


Truly, Madly

by YukinoKoe



Series: Truly, Madly, Deeply [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Crossdressing, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-16 19:05:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7280938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YukinoKoe/pseuds/YukinoKoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ukai is tired of the boys from the Neighbors Association always trying to set him up on a date, so he cashes in his favors with Takeda and asks the teacher to pretend to be his girlfriend for a night. But things don't always go as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Favors

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is the first story I've published in at least five years, so I hope you enjoy it. Your thumbs up and comments feed my need for attention... I mean serve as encouragement for me to keep working hard!
> 
> I was inspired by Haikyuu chapter 207 where Ukai complains about the Old Boys' Association trying to set him up all the time. I took a little artistic liberty with that, but still rolled with the idea of people trying to set up Ukai on dates all the time.

Keishin Ukai pressed the phone against his ear with his shoulder, scowling as he stamped out a cigarette. He was on the phone with one of the Boys’ Association members from a town over who had been talking his ear off about some new girlfriend. Naturally, this was a long lead-up to trying to set Keishin up with someone. Ukai wondered if he should cut his old friend’s story off early so he didn't have to sit through another ten minutes of “I’m so happy to have a girlfriend!” and other sappy anecdotes.

Ukai set down his coffee and leaned his head on his now free hand. He occasionally mumbled a response to his friend who was describing how “Keiko-chan is so perfect and beautiful,” and whatever adjectives a new boyfriend could use to describe a girlfriend.

“Quit delaying the inevitable,” Ukai thought to himself, staring blankly out the window of his family’s shop. “Just try to set me up with some girl who you think is my type but probably isn’t…”

As Ukai zoned out from the conversation, he noticed two figures wandering past the shop. He perked up slightly when he noticed one of the people had a familiar face. He smiled slightly as he watched Takeda chatting with another teacher, laughing brightly. Takeda turned towards the window and smiled, offering a small wave, and Ukai returned the gesture with a quick nod of acknowledgement.

Ukai enjoyed the teacher’s presence, even if he was sometimes a bit persistent. Takeda pushed Ukai to better himself, and he was grateful to the teacher for taking him out of his comfort zone and into coaching. He couldn’t even picture his life before coaching anymore. Takeda was both to blame and to thank.

“Ukai? Hey, you there? I asked if you were seeing anyone?”

Ah, back to the reality of the matter. The question took Ukai off guard, even though he had been expecting it, and Ukai let out an unexpected, “Yeah,” and immediately regretted the syllable that escaped his mouth. How was he supposed to explain that one?

“Oh, really? Wow, I had talked to Shimada and he said you didn’t have a girlfriend. Who is she?”

Ukai looked at Takeda, who had stopped in front of the shop with the other person; Ukai assumed it was another teacher. “She’s uh, short, dark haired…” Ukai tried to think of how the association guys described their girlfriends, using Takeda as a reference. “She has these big eyes that are like a little puppy when she wants something from me. It’s… cute.”

There was silence on the other side. Ukai started to feel beads of sweat on the back of his neck. Would he really buy that? Why was he trying to come up with a fake girlfriend using Takeda anyway? Now not only would they keep trying to set him up, they’d make fun of him for pretending to have a girlfriend in the first place! He heard a faint laugh on the other side, making the hairs on his neck stand up. Ukai heard a shuffle on the other line, and his friend responded, “Sorry about that, Ukai. Keiko-chan just showed up and brought me a homemade bento! She is just the best! Your new girlfriend sounds great! She has to come get drinks with us sometime!”

The bell above the shop door tinkled, signaling someone had entered the shop. Ukai looked up and saw that Takeda had entered the shop and was walking towards him. Ukai gave a small wave and said, “Yeah, sure. I gotta go, man. I have a customer. We’re still good for practice next Thursday, right?”

“Oh, yeah! Talk to you later! Let me know what your lady says about meeting up for drinks!”

Ukai hung up the phone and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Hey, sensei. What’re you doing down here so early?”

Takeda smiled sunnily. “I forgot my lunch today, so I thought I’d come down here to buy something and eat with you.”

Ukai gulped, his flattened nose twitching as Takeda moved to look for something to buy. “Y-yeah. Ma made curry, and she always makes a bunch extra.”

Takeda’s smile dropped slightly, and he waved his hands in front of him, a light pink blush peppering his cheeks. “Ukai-kun. I couldn’t impose myself. I already owe you so many favors as it is!”

“Relax,” Ukai drawled, hoisting himself out of his seat that he felt he had practically melded to. He ambled through the curtained partition between the store and his parents’ house and filled two bowls of curry. He returned to the front of the shop where Takeda waited and pulled up a stool for the young teacher. Takeda sat on the stool and accepted the curry Ukai held out to him. “Thank you so much, Ukai-kun. I’ll have to buy you lunch tomorrow as thanks.”

Ukai suddenly thought about his conversation with his friend, and how he mentioned his girlfriend made him a bento. His mind replayed the conversation about his fake girlfriend that just happened to be Takeda. Ukai stared at the shorter man’s face, taking in his features, from Takeda’s bushy eyebrows to the long, black lashes that framed his deep, brown eyes to the slight upward curve of his lips as they seemed to caress the tips of the chopsticks as he ate. Takeda looked up at Ukai with those dog-like eyes and asked, “Ukai-kun? Aren’t you going to eat?”

Ukai leaned in really close, looking at Takeda’s features as though they were under a microscope. Takeda’s adam’s apple noticeably bobbed as he gulped, and he had the slightest trace of peach fuzz on his chin, but with the right clothes and makeup, just maybe…

Ukai’s head raced, piecing together a plan – a plan to get the association boys off his back once and for all so he could live in peace. “Sensei… I’m going to need to cash in all of my favors.”

Takeda was shaking slightly and blushing wildly. “A-anything, Ukai-kun,” Takeda stammered. A little bead of sweat started to form on his temple. “What do you want me to do?”

Ukai slammed his hands onto the countertop, making Takeda flinch ever so slightly. “I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend.”

Takeda, who had leaned back slightly in his stool when Ukai slammed his hands on the table, was now blushing from ear to ear. The sweat on his temple slid down the side of his face languidly, resting in a droplet on his jawline. For a few moments, the advisor and coach just stared at each other uncomfortably, a mess of red-tinged cheeks and wavering shoulders that trembled out of tension. Ukai’s arms felt as though they were going to give out from under him, and Takeda’s hands were clenched so tightly on his lap that there would surely be indents from his fingernails on his palms when he finally unfurled his fists. Takeda let out a loud exhale, and said, voice cracking slightly from the dryness of the inside of his mouth, “I’m not sure what you mean, Ukai...”

Ukai wasn’t sure if the dropped formality was intentional – whether Takeda was being cold or whether Ukai had opened a barrier between them. Ukai’s hands felt as though he was sliding forward on his sweaty palms, so he snapped up, almost too fast. The sudden movement made Takeda flinch, but his wide, brown eyes never broke away from Ukai. The coach rubbed a sweaty hand up the base of his neck into his wild blond hair and spoke in a low voice laced with trepidation, “I kinda told one of the Boys’ Association guys that I had a girlfriend. And since you were walkin’ by, I used you as a reference. They’re always trying to set me up on dates, so I figured that if I said I had a girlfriend, they’d leave me alone.”

Takeda’s hands writhed in his lap as though he was deep in thought. He now stared at his hands rather than looking at Ukai. “And you want me to pretend to be this fake girlfriend. Even though I’m a guy,” he said, softly.

“Can’t say I know any girls that owe me this many favors,” Ukai muttered, his fingers practically woven into his hair.

“Ok,” Takeda replied, curtly. “But we’re going to need to plan this carefully.” Takeda folded his hands in front of his mouth, his elbows resting on the counter. Ukai swore he saw Takeda’s glasses flash. “What’s the name of your fake girlfriend.”

Ukai was taken aback by Takeda’s willingness to participate and the almost shrewd nature Takeda took on. “I, uh, didn’t say,” Ukai stammered, wondering if the teacher was about to slap his knuckles with a ruler at any moment.

“Well,” Takeda said, pushing his glasses up with the knuckle of his left hand, “I think we can get away with it if you say that I’m my sister. That way if one of your friends does recognize me, it can be played off as though it’s familial similarities. Also, it would be ok if you accidentally call me Takeda. You can even say I’m a teacher or something, just in case you say sensei as well. It would be strange if you call me ‘Sensei’, but it’s at least coverable. As for a first name… what would be easiest for you to remember?”

“Ai,” Ukai burst out, after only moments of thought. “It’s short. And kinda ironic in a way.”

Takeda smiled. “A name meaning ‘love’, huh? I wouldn’t exactly say ironic. More, apropos.”

Ukai frowned slightly. “Yeah, sure, sensei. Like I’d know what that even meant,” he thought, but he didn’t say aloud. Takeda shifted slightly in his chair, deep in thought. Ukai could almost hear a low rumble of gears turning and clinking into place. “I’d need a wig. I can probably find one in the drama clubroom. Something dark and long so it looks natural. I have a small frame, but anything I can do to look more feminine would help.”

Ukai shivered slightly. He knew Takeda was a schemer from day one, but he didn’t expect this level of dedication, especially for such an embarrassing favor. “You’re really into this…” he muttered, almost accidentally. Though there was a part of him that wanted to know why Takeda wasn’t so hesitant.

“I owe you more than a few favors,” Takeda said, a sheepish smile tugging at his lips. “It’s the least I can do.”

They spent the next ten minutes planning Ai Takeda’s backstory. She was a 25 year-old, 1st grade teacher at a school in Kurihara. They met through Takeda-sensei and instantly hit it off. She had managed her school’s volleyball team in high school. She was soft-spoken (mostly because Takeda’s attempts at sounding feminine didn’t quite succeed at volumes above a whisper. Takeda said he’d practice.) To Ukai, Ai sounded far out of his league, but Takeda reassured him by saying that Ai was probably the type who valued hard work and strong family ties – both of which Takeda noted were Ukai’s admirable qualities (much to Ukai’s embarrassment). They talked and ate cold curry until Takeda looked at his phone and noticed he was going to be late. He attempted to clean up his dishes, but Ukai shook him off. “You’ve got class to teach, sensei. Leave this to me. I’ll see you later.”

“Of course. Thank you so much. See you later, Ukai-kun!” Takeda said, bowing a full 90 degrees and whacking his head against the countertop. Takeda turned away, a bit red with embarrassment and blood rushing to his forehead. Ukai smirked, resting his elbows against the countertop. “Careful, sensei. Don’t want my girlfriend’s pretty face to get messed up.”

Takeda turned away mechanically, looking like a tomato smashed on top of a toy robot’s body, and he rushed out of the store with a little wave and a slight grimace. Ukai’s grin widened, and he turned back to the counter to clean up the empty curry bowls.


	2. Pink Shoes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Just an FYI, I have a tumblr specifically for my writing. You can find my work at yukinokoe.tumblr.com. It's an offshoot of my main blog, so there won't be a ton of content, but I wanted a blog that would specifically focus on my work and the fandoms I like.

Ukai had planned to meet with some of the Association boys at a bar in the city – nicer than the one they usually go to – a week from Saturday. He mentioned this to Takeda during practice, and the shorter advisor smiled and responded with a short, “Ok. I can do that. But we should meet up two hours before to practice being a fake couple.”

Ukai currently waited for Takeda outside of the train station. He was nervous to see what Takeda looked like. The man was short, but would he really be able to pull off looking like a girl? Ukai sweated nervously, running his palms on his jeans that fit a little too snugly for Ukai’s liking. He wore a navy blue button-up shirt, and even though it wasn’t tucked in or anything like that, it was far out of his usual comfort zone of t-shirts and track jackets. He pulled at the neck of his white undershirt and looked down at his phone. Sensei should be here any minute, but he couldn’t see anyone he recognized: an older gentleman with a cane, a woman with shoulder-length black hair, a couple high-school aged boys who were punching each other with grins plastered on their faces… Ukai kept looking back towards the station exit, wondering whether Takeda was running late.

“Ah! Ukai-kun! I almost missed you!”

Ukai spun his head around and almost fell off the bench. The woman with shoulder-length black hair was looking at him with a familiar smile. Ukai blinked several times, but still couldn’t believe that Takeda stood before him, though it almost didn’t seem like Takeda. He wore a black bob wig with bangs that covered his thick eyebrows. His face was cleanly shaved so not even a hint of fuzz was visible, and his eyes, cheeks, and lips were all a couple shades pinker with makeup. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, but from the slight squint, Ukai didn’t think he had put in contacts. Ukai looked the teacher up and down, taking in the high-necked sweater that covered his masculine neck, the too-short skirt that only hit mid-thigh, and the black tights that masked any sharp angles in his legs. He even wore a pair of pink shoes that looked just a hair too small from the way Takeda kept slipping his foot in and out of the flat. “What do you think? Do I look ok?” Takeda asked, his voice just in an acceptably feminine range.

Ukai turned away from Takeda and scratched the side of his neck nervously. If trying to recruit him as a coach wasn’t proof enough of Takeda’s dedication, this certainly was. “Yeah. You look… like a girl.”

“Well, that’s the point, isn’t it?” Takeda said, smiling. “When you cash in a favor to Ittetsu Takeda, he delivers tenfold!”

Ukai pinched his nose, trying to hide his sheepish smile. Takeda was aggressively dedicated in everything he did. He shouldn’t have expected any different in this situation. Takeda shifted uncomfortably in his too-small shoes, and Ukai jumped up from his seat, grabbing Takeda by the elbow. “C’mon.” He said smoothly, walking away from the bustling station exit. “Let’s go somewhere less crowded so we can talk about this whole relationship thing.”

He didn’t want to look at Takeda. The young teacher looked cute, and Ukai could feel his heart pound. “It’s just Takeda-sensei, Keishin,” he thought, trudging through the large crowds of people near the station. “He’s a guy under all that hair and makeup and fancy clothes. And not just any guy. He’s sensei. Blushing, beaming sensei.” A brief thought flickered in his brain that maybe his reaction was because it was Takeda, not just some random cute girl, but he dismissed the thought almost as soon as it came. Takeda was his friend and coworker – nothing more.

Takeda tripped slightly over his shoe and grasped Ukai’s hand, making the taller man flinch. “Ukai-kun, let’s sit down over here,” he said, gesturing to a park bench with his free hand. The area was fairly quiet with a murmur of traffic and pedestrians. Ukai nodded, dropping his hand uncomfortably from Takeda’s, but the teacher snatched the hand up again. “We should probably hold hands. It’d be less suspicious.”

Ukai could feel his body heat up slightly. “Like hell… No one’s looking at us. It’s kinda weird,” he scoffed, pulling his hand towards his chest.

Takeda pouted, pursing out his painted pink lips. “Keishin,” he practically purred, making Ukai gulp. “We’re practicing. Give me your damn hand.”

Ukai resisted for a second before relenting his hand by letting it drop limply to his side. Takeda snatched (There really wasn’t a better word for it, Ukai thought) Ukai’s hand and squeezed it in a vice-like grip. “Jesus, sensei. I won’t have a hand if you don’t loosen up a bit!” Ukai stammered, trying to wiggle his hand free.

“A-ah! I’m sorry,” Takeda stammered, reducing his grip. “I guess even though I’ve been practicing what I’m going to do at home, stuff like this, with you, still makes me nervous.”

They held hands on the park bench in silence for a couple dragging minutes. No matter how he tried to justify it in his head, Ukai thought that this hand holding was weird. There was no romantic attachment to the hand holding other than the pretend romance between himself and Ai Takeda, but it wasn’t Ai Takeda holding his hand. It was Ittetsu Takeda – a man. Ukai sank forward in his seat and stuffed his hand into the front pocket of his jeans. “I need a smoke,” he said, pulling out a crumpled half empty carton of cigarettes and a lighter. 

Ukai placed the lighter on his lap and attempted to wiggle his hand free from Takeda’s to take a cigarette from the pack. Instead of letting go, Takeda grabbed one cigarette from the box and the lighter. He held up the cigarette close to Ukai’s mouth, hand trembling. Ukai laughed, pocketing the box with the remaining cigarettes and taking the cigarette from Takeda’s hand with his now free fingers. “It’s backwards, sensei,” he laughed, flipping the cigarette to the right end with his fingers before sticking it in his mouth.

“Call me Ai, Keishin. We’re practicing,” Takeda said sternly. The teacher leaned forward and flicked the lighter on, leaning close to Ukai to see where to light the tip of his cigarette. Takeda’s nose crumpled slightly as Ukai let out a smoky breath.

“This whole situation is just weird,” Ukai said, looking down at the smoke rising from the end of the cigarette. He took another long drag and said, “I mean. I asked this of you. It’s what I wanted to do and you agreed. But it’s still so weird.”

“You say it’s ‘weird’ a lot, Ukai-kun,” Takeda whispered in his normal voice. “I agreed to do this, but if you don’t want to…”

“That’s not what I meant!” Ukai stammered, nearly dropping his cigarette. “I want to do this, it’s just…” Ukai didn’t know what he wanted to say. It almost felt like the Iron Wall of Date Tech was creating a block in his brain where what he wanted to say was hidden behind behind. Ukai lifted his cigarette towards his lips again and mumbled, “It’s just… you look cute… as a girl.”

Takeda looked flushed, moreso than the pink blush made him seem. “Thanks,” Takeda said, the words coming out of his mouth like a breath of air. He turned to Ukai and smiled warmly. Ukai looked back at him, smoke rising from between his open lips. In his pitched up voice, Takeda said, “Keishin, smile when you look at me! Like every time you see me makes you happy!”

Ukai smiled, then looked down at his cigarette and tapped the ashes off of the armrest of the park bench onto the ground below. “Jeez, sensei. How do you know all this romantic stuff? I’ve dated a few girls, but even I couldn’t spew all this sappy stuff like you can.”

Takeda looked away so Ukai could only see the faint outline of his crimson colored nose poking out past the block of the wig. “I… I read a lot of romance novels.”

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Ukai. Takeda was a literature teacher after all. But he couldn’t help but grin wolfishly at the thought of Takeda curling up with some sappy romance novel. “Is that how you learned to do your makeup too?” Ukai asked, still grinning.

“I took a few notes from some of the girls in the hall whenever they talked about it during breaks,” Takeda said. “And I watched videos online. I told you, I’m diligent.”

“That you are.” Ukai looked down at the stumpy remains of his cigarette and tossed it on the ground, stamping it out under his foot. Takeda glowered at him, and he sighed, picking up the crushed butt and flicking it into a nearby garbage can. Ukai rested in his seat, breathing steadily as the cold night air started to blow. Takeda fidgeted, then looked at Ukai. “You look nice, Keishin. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear a shirt with buttons on it.”

Ukai laughed bitterly and pulled at the chest of his shirt. “I don’t really like these kinda shirts. Or ties, or suits. Reminds me of funerals. Or weddings. Both are pretty terrible. But if I’m introducing my girlfriend, I figured I should probably dress a bit nicer.”

“I think you look good, Keishin,” Takeda said, grinning and running a hand over Ukai’s shoulder. Ukai could feel his spine shudder as Takeda petted him, and he asked, “Did you take drama in high school? You’re a good actor.”

Takeda laughed, “No, but I’ve been practicing.”

They sat silently, their hands intertwined on the park bench. Ukai’s fingers twitched over his pocket, wondering if he should light up another cigarette. He then remembered that Takeda still had his lighter. He looked over and saw his silver lighter poking out from under Takeda’s hand. “Hey, can you pass me my lighter?” He asked, a bit sheepish from their past silence.

“Are you going to light up again?” Takeda asked, gripping the lighter to his chest. For the first time today, Ukai noticed that Takeda had padded himself out, giving him the illusion of a girlish chest. Ukai stared, both at Takeda’s chest and the lighter, before turning away quickly, embarrassed. Takeda really was going all out for his request, and the thought of Takeda stuffing a bra and putting on makeup just made Ukai squirm in a twisted combination of embarrassment, discomfort, and strangely, intrigue. “Fuck, why did I ask a guy to do this for me?”

“Is there something wrong with it being me?”

Ukai’s head shot up to look at Takeda. The teacher looked almost sad. Ukai hadn’t even realized that he had said what he was thinking aloud. “Shit,” Ukai grumbled through gritted teeth. “I didn’t mean to say that aloud… I just didn’t realize how real this whole situation would be. It’s like something out of a god damn manga. Or something one of the kids would do. I’m pretty sure if Tanaka could dress like a girl and go on a date with himself, he would.”

Takeda laughed, a rich, hearty laugh that made his shoulders bob and his chest wiggle. “I can definitely see Tanaka-kun doing that.”

Takeda’s laughing took all the tenseness out of the situation. Soon enough, Ukai was laughing too. They were both laughing so vibrantly that passersby were pointing with raised eyebrows or suppressing the urge to laugh too. Once their laughter had died down to stifled chuckles, Takeda stood up and said in his soft, pitched-up voice, “Are you ready, Keishin?”

Ukai stood and grabbed Takeda’s hand in his, smiling back at the teacher. “Sure. Let’s go, Ai.”


	3. Beer

The bar was loud: much louder than their usual bar in Torono. Takeda gripped Ukai’s hand so fiercely that Ukai winced, but continued guiding him towards the back room they had been directed to. When Ukai reached the curtained-off room, he turned back to Takeda. “Ready?” Ukai asked, somewhat to Takeda, but somewhat to himself. 

Takeda nodded. He looked nervous again. His eyes didn’t quite meet Ukai’s, and his lips didn’t curl up in their usual smile. Ukai turned to face him and placed a hand on Takeda’s shoulder. “We don’t have to do this if it makes you uncomfortable…” he whispered.

“It’s not that,” Takeda responded. “I just… I don’t want to let you down. If they find out it’s me, they’ll make fun of you…”

“Don’t worry about me,” Ukai said, his brows creasing and twitching as though they didn’t know whether to be worried or not. “They won’t find out. I’m more worried that they’ll try to steal a pretty girl away from me.”

When the words came out of Ukai’s mouth, his eyes bulged and he turned towards the curtain so Takeda couldn’t see his red face. Though he was sure Takeda could notice the hairs that pricked up on his neck like little black needles that contrasted his dyed blonde hair. Ukai took a deep breath, letting the color wash away from his face, and pushed aside the curtain.

There were 10 or so people around the table: mostly men, but a couple women were there too. They were sitting and laughing, holding beers to wash down the food that practically covered the entire table. Mori was the first to notice the two and raised a glass to announce their entrance. “Ukai! And his girl! C’mon in! Wow, Ukai, didn’t think you’d gotten such a cutie.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, punk?” Ukai said with a laugh, sliding onto an empty spot on the bench. Takeda squinted and took a seat as well, easing carefully onto the bench. Ukai wondered if Takeda not wearing glasses was a good idea. The chatter died down and everyone was staring at Ukai and Takeda, expectantly. Takeda grabbed Ukai’s shirtsleeve and gave a small tug. “Keishin,” he whispered in the soft, feminine voice he had been practicing, “I think they want you to introduce me.”

Takeda, whether he denied it or not, was an excellent actor. He sounded so meek, and even his eyes seemed to say that he didn’t want to talk to strangers even though he – Ittetsu Takeda – was cheerful and friendly and not afraid of getting his point across. “Ah, right,” Ukai said, nervously running a hand through his hair. He took a deep breath, and he recited the words he had practiced so many times. “Everyone, this is my girlfriend, Ai Takeda. She’s Takeda-sensei’s younger sister from Kurihara. She’s a teacher as well, and she knows a little about volleyball.”

The men in the group nodded their heads smugly, as though knowing about volleyball was a rite of passage to being considered part of their drinking group. Takinoue glared at Takeda, making the teacher clam up, but Takinoue dropped the glare and smiled. “Yep. I knew it,” he said, pointing at Takeda. The teacher seemed to tense up so much that even Ukai could feel his fear. “You’re a grade-A cutie! Does Takeda-sensei have any other sisters?”

Ukai threw an edamame pod at Takinoue’s head. “Don’t be a creep to my girlfriend, Takinoue!” He rubbed his nose and grabbed an empty glass, pouring himself a drink from the pitcher. He realized Takeda was still trying to discern the location of everything on the table, and instead of keeping the drink, he placed it directly into Takeda’s hands. “Sorry my friends are so creepy, Ai-chan,” he said, making sure that at least one of the association members could hear him. He got what he wanted when he noticed Uchizawa grinning at them. Ukai poured himself a beer from the pitcher and nudged Takeda with his elbow. “The rude one is Takinoue. Next to him is Shimada. The guy with the brown hair is Mori, and next to Mori is Uchizawa.”

Ukai named every person at the table. Inside, it was awkward since Takeda knew more than half of them already. But Takeda smiled and nodded at every name, following Ukai’s hand movements since he couldn’t entirely see anything. When the introductions were done, and Takeda had been offered every food on the table, Uchizawa asked, “So, how do you know about volleyball, Ai-chan?”

Takeda cleared his throat and said in his soft voice, “I was a manager for my high school team. I went to a small school that didn’t have many extra-curricular activities, so I thought volleyball would be interesting. I used to think that boys with buzz cuts were so cute.” Shimada and Takinoue looked at each other and laughed boisterously, giving cheesy grins to Ukai. The young coach turned bright red, wondering how Takeda knew about his buzz cut. Then he recalled that Takeda had practically stalked him to get him to coach the Karasuno team. Takeda reached behind Ukai and ran his hand through his blonde hair. The sudden touch startled Ukai, but he recovered by looking at Takeda with a fake loving smile. “But I much prefer men with long, wild hair now. Keishin’s hair is like the beams of the sun: all golden and untamed… and hot.” Takeda said the last word in a low whisper that surely no one but he heard.

Takinoue was making a sickeningly sweet face as he grinned at the couple. “How long have you two been together?” Shimada asked, looking at Ukai with a cheeky grin.

“Less than a month,” Ukai said as he had rehearsed. “Takeda-sensei and I were traveling to meet up with a coach from one of the area schools. Ai met up with us.”

“It was basically love at first sight,” Takeda said, wistfully. Shimada and Takinoue were starting to snicker under their breath, but their cheesy smiles that they tried to cover with their hands were showing through far too obviously. “Shaddup! We’re adorable!” Ukai shouted. 

Ukai downed his beer and poured himself another drink from the half-empty pitcher. Takeda was still slowly nursing his first drink. Mori handed her a menu and asked, “Is there anything different you’d like, Ai-chan? It’s pretty rare that Ukai has a date, so it’s our treat.”

Takeda waved his hand in front of his face. “Oh, no. I’m fine with beer. I don’t drink all that much since I work with children.” Ukai could barely contain a snort of laughter. Takeda worked with children and drank sake and beer practically every weekend. The teacher could handle his liquor better than Ukai even.

“Ok, but if you change your mind, let us know, ok?” Mori noted, offering a friendly smile. “We wanna make sure you stick around. Otherwise Ukai won’t be married ‘til he’s 40!”

At this point, Ukai didn’t even respond to his friends’ teasing. Instead, he loaded up a plate with dumplings and fried chicken and ate, staring at Mori and the still giggling pair with an annoyed expression on his now stuffed face. Ukai inched the plate closer to Takeda, who took it as an invitation to share food. Takeda took a dumpling and smiled, holding it up to Ukai’s lips. “Say ah,” Takeda said, wiggling the dumpling. “Great,” Ukai thought, glaring at the dumpling as though it were Takinoue’s grinning face. “As if they weren’t making fun of me enough.” Nevertheless, he took the dumpling, returning Takeda’s smile with an awkward, stuffed-mouth smile of his own.

The group conversed across the table, getting drunker by the minute as beer flowed generously from pitchers to mugs. Ukai was starting to feel hazy and tipsy, but he would always snap back to near soberness when he remembered that he was trying to fool his friends that he had a fake girlfriend who happened to be a man. He and Takeda would occasionally do something pseudo-romantic like sharing a drink or holding hands above the table where his friends could observe and snicker mercilessly. Ukai felt weirdly comforted by these strange moments with Takeda. It was like a reassurance that he wasn’t alone in his plan. The more he drank, the less awkward it became to touch Takeda. The line between Ittetsu and Ai started thinning to the point where Ukai didn’t even think about the awkwardness whenever their knees brushed or they caught each other’s eyes and smiled.

Around the middle of the seventh pitcher on their side of the table, Takinoue, whose face was flushed and his eyes were half-lidded in drunken stupor, smiled and pointed directly at Takeda. “Ai-ai,” he slurred, giggling prematurely at the words that were about to come out of his mouth. “Is Kei a good kisser?”

Takeda turned bright pink and looked downwards, nervously wringing his hands in the folds of his skirt. Ukai lifted his glass, tipping it towards Takinoue in an aggressive manner. “She doesn’t have to answer that, you fucking pervert.”

“He- well, he probably is,” Takeda stammered, still not looking at anyone. At least four jaws dropped at that remark, and Mori dropped a half-full beer glass on the floor. “You’ve never kissed?” Uchizawa stammered, his head whipping dangerously back and forth between Takeda and Ukai.

Ukai was a bright red at this point. He and Takeda hadn’t planned for this (even though they should have, considering his friends’ blatant disregard for tact.) And surely Takeda knew that not kissing even though they had been dating for a month was absurd. Shimada slammed his glass on the table and said, “Then do it now! Kiss her, Keishin! Kiss, kiss, kiss!”

Takinoue and Mori joined into the cheer, clinking their beer glasses against the table. Ukai looked at Takeda, who looked back, eyes wide and alert. Ukai grabbed Takeda’s hand and gave it a long, staged kiss, glowering back at his friends across the table. “Happy?” he asked, annoyed. Takinoue and Shimada rolled their eyes and booed, giving Ukai thumbs down. “A real kiss, Kei!” Takinoue shouted, lifting his glass. Make it steamy!”

The chants of “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” had spread to the rest of the group. Most of the men were chanting and winking. Ukai’s head throbbed and he looked at Takeda through the corner of his eye. The teacher was gulping so intensely that Ukai could even see his throat move under the high-necked sweater. Nevertheless, Takeda gave a small, almost impossible to see nod. The smaller man scooted closer to Ukai, looking up at the blond expectantly but nervously. Ukai took a deep gulp of air before moving his shaking hands.

It could have been the alcohol, the peer pressure, or Takeda’s reassurance that instigated Ukai to seal the gap between them, but something, something invisible, did. With a soft touch, Ukai cupped Takeda’s cheeks and leaned in, closing the space between their lips. Ukai had kissed girls before. He knew what a kiss felt like and what distinguished the good kisses from the great kisses. But this kiss was different. Takeda’s lips were soft and wet: a little sticky from the lipstick and the beer. They wobbled slightly as they met Ukai’s, but steadied, only moving with Ukai’s rhythm. The teacher’s eyes were open at first, wide and nervous. But in the later seconds of their kiss, Takeda closed his eyes, letting his feather-light eyelashes bat against Ukai’s cheeks. Their noses and cheekbones touched and pressed as they moved, but it was far from uncomfortable. Ukai relished the moments that Takeda’s nose nuzzled against his upper lip. It wasn’t passionate, but no less affectionate: no writhing tongues or open mouths swapping saliva back and forth. It was wet in the same way a light summer shower was wet. It was warm, inviting, and Ukai didn’t really want it to stop.

But it did, abruptly, with the sound of a camera shutter. Takinoue was holding up his phone, laughing. Shimada, who also held his phone, glared at Takinoue with a whispered, “You’re supposed to turn that shit on silent!”

“What the hell, guys!” Ukai shouted, practically leaping out of his seat. His bushy eyebrows were practically at a right angle to his eyes and his mouth was open so wide that all his teeth were showing. Ukai leaned in angrily towards his friends, about to verbally murder them when he felt a tug on the back of his shirt. Ukai turned back, anger still present on his face, to look at the person who had held him back.

Takeda was as pink as his shoes. He didn't look at Ukai, instead whispered, “Keishin… don’t…”

Ukai breathed in heavily and eased back into his seat. His head was swimming with thoughts. He had kissed Takeda – his coaching partner, his coworker, a man – and he had liked it. Liked even felt like too mild of a word to describe that kiss, all soft and sweet and… different. “I must have forgotten he wasn’t Ai…” Ukai thought, letting his guilt and discomfort wash away. Takeda still wouldn’t look at him. He wouldn’t even look at anything but the shifting folds of his skirt that moved as he fidgeted. Ukai wondered what was going through Takeda’s head. Takeda probably hadn’t enjoyed the kiss. It must have been so weird for him to kiss another guy – maybe even gross. Maybe the reason he wouldn’t look at Ukai was he was disgusted by his actions. Ukai couldn’t blame him. Was he even disgusted? Did the fact that Takeda was dressed as a girl make the situation okay?

Ukai’s mind raced, and his head was pounding with questions. “Oh, fuck…” He heard from across the table, snapping him from his thoughts. Takinoue was staring at his phone, his face white as a sheet. “Kei… Fuck… I was gonna send you the photo, but…”

Takinoue didn’t even have time to finish his thought. Ukai’s phone was buzzing loudly, vibrating violently against his thigh. Ukai pulled the phone out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. He suddenly paled, his own face drained of color now, looking up at Takinoue with a horrified expression. “Fuck…” Ukai muttered, swinging his legs over the bench and walking briskly out of the bar. The last thing he wanted from this situation, a thing he hadn’t even considered as the worst possible outcome, was happening, and Ukai wasn’t prepared for what was coming.

Ukai stood, shoulders sagging, on the quiet street outside of the bar. He opened his phone and pressed it uncomfortably to his ear. He sighed, and said, air escaping from his lungs as he spoke, “Hey gramps…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter satiates you all while I'm away with family, even if it does have a bit of a cliffhanger.


	4. Grandfather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a while to put up! Chapter 5 will probably take a bit longer as well since I'm currently facing midterms and several essays for my summer class. Plus Pokemon GO has taken me away from my computer. Anyway, Enjoy!

Since Ukai was 18 years old, his parents had arranged marriage interviews. They were all boring, stupid girls, and most of them didn’t even like him. Ukai dreaded marriage interviews. He tried to flake to practice volleyball at first, but his mother would get angry. He started smoking when he was 19 and showed up to interviews smelling like tobacco. “Why are you doing this to your mother?” his grandfather had asked, glowering at Ukai’s freshly pierced left ear.

Even though Ikkei Ukai was his grandfather, he was still just as imposing and stern to Keishin as he was to anyone else. Ukai scoffed, lighting up a cigarette right in front of his grandfather as they sat on the step outside of Sakanoshita Store. Keishin took a loud, deep drag of the cigarette and breathed out the smoke, careless to his surroundings. “It’s stupid. They’re stupid: the girls, mom, dad… I don’t want to be tied down to the same, boring girl for the rest of my life.”

Ikkei pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. “You’re an ungrateful shit sometimes, you know that?” He said, annoyed, but he was smiling slightly. “Look, I can’t tell you what to do. You’re an adult now, and I’m not your coach. But I am your grandfather, and I can tell you that someday, you’ll find a girl who will make you very happy. Your mother and father don’t want to see you waste your youth.”

The younger Ukai chewed haphazardly on the end of the cigarette. “And getting married right away wouldn’t be ‘throwing my youth away’? ‘Cos that’s how I see it. What’s wrong with wanting to just sleep around and enjoy not having to see the same old nag every day?”

Ikkei hit the top of Keishin’s head with the flat of his hand. “Idiot,” he grumbled. “Don’t say shit like that to your grandfather.” The older Ukai leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Tell ya what. If you can beat me in an arm wrestle, I’ll convince your mother not to make you go to marriage interviews. But if I win, you have to keep going until the day you’re married.”

Keishin practically pounced from his seat on the step, his hands balled into fists and a crooked smile on his face, “Ok, old man. You’re on.”

Since then, Ukai had attended at least six marriage interviews, each one more boring and pathetic than the last. He kept trying to convince his family that it was no use; he wasn’t going to fall in love with a girl his parents tried to set him up with. But he had hoped when he did finally find a girl that he would have plenty of time to mentally prepare to tell his family. But one stupid slip of Takinoue’s fingers had ruined that chance. Instead, Ukai was faced with a call he wasn’t fully prepared to take.

“Hello Keishin,” his grandfather said over the phone. His voice was far too calm. “I got that message from Takinoue. Who is she?”

Ukai gulped silently, his lungs full of air. He felt the cold night air all around him. It was practically stinging Ukai’s face. “Her name is Ai,” he said, knowing what to say from constant rehearsal, but still stammering slightly from nerves. “She’s the sister of Karasuno’s faculty advisor. I met her a few weeks ago and we hit it off.”

It felt so wrong to lie to his grandfather. Almost painfully wrong. Ukai bit his lip and waited for his grandfather to speak. The seconds of silence felt like minutes. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Ikkei asked, his voice rising slightly. Ukai could tell his grandfather was trying to remain calm. Perhaps Ukai’s parents were in the room. “I was going to. It just hasn’t come up.”

“Hasn’t come up? You see your mother and father every day!” Ukai could hear his grandfather take a deep, sighing breath over the phone. “You’ve never been the type to keep your family out of your life. I really don’t care what you do, but don’t hurt your parents.”

Ukai could feel a lump in his throat. It almost choked him. No matter how much he rebelled against the marriage interviews, he cared deeply for his family. He felt as though he had let them down, even though they were never supposed to find out. What did he expect though? Takinoue couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and he didn’t think Shimada could keep a secret like this either. But what was he supposed to say? “Sorry gramps, but I didn’t know I had a girlfriend until about a week ago. And also, she’s actually a man and my coworker that I’m not even actually dating. We’re just fooling everyone so the guys will leave me alone about being single. Whoops!” 

Ukai almost laughed bitterly at the thought of telling that to his grandfather. Even though it was the truth, would he actually believe it? Not that Ukai would say it anyway. Just the thought of saying something so embarrassing made his face sting with humiliation. Instead, Ukai responded in a low voice, “I just… I really like her. I don’t want to screw things up.”

It was true: Ukai didn’t want to screw things up. And he did like Takeda – as a person. It wasn’t as though he was romantically interested in him. At least, Ukai didn’t think so. Even so, that kiss had been something else. Ukai shook the thought from his mind. He had too much else to think about right now to even think about how that kiss had made him feel.

“It’s too late to be arguing about this,” Ikkei grumbled. “Why don’t we talk about it over dinner tomorrow. Bring the girl. We want to meet her.”

“Okay,” Ukai responded, his mouth completely dry. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Ukai hung up the phone and breathed out a ragged breath. All he wanted to do was smoke. He fished around in his pockets, looking for his lighter. Someone behind him cleared their throat, and Ukai turned around, face to face with Takeda. The young teacher was holding out his lighter in the palm of his hand. “Looking for this?” Takeda asked.

He still wasn’t looking at Ukai. Instead, his eyes were downcast as though he was looking at something on the ground to their left. A wave of awkwardness hit Ukai. He hadn’t thought about how Takeda must have felt after that kiss. He didn’t ask for it, and it never should have happened. And Takeda didn’t have the luxury that Ukai did in confusing Takeda for his female alter-ego. Ukai took the lighter awkwardly, and said, “Let’s sit down.”

They sat on a concrete ledge by the door of the bar, sitting silently as Ukai smoked and Takeda fidgeted with his shoes. Ukai almost had nothing but the butt left when Takeda broke the silence. “Girls have it so rough. Their shoes are so uncomfortable.” 

Ukai hummed in response, reaching over to the nearby trash can to stub out the cigarette in the ash urn. He didn’t even notice that Takeda was trying to make the situation less tense. Not that much could alleviate his tension anyway. Takeda sighed, “Ukai-kun… who was on the phone?”

“My grandad,” Ukai responded, opening up his pack to start up another cigarette. “Takinoue sent him the picture of us kissing by mistake. Old man thought it was just another one of my rebellious actions. He didn’t sound too happy. Thought I was keeping my parents out of the loop. Which, I mean, I am, but it’s not like we’re actually dating.”

“Right…” Takeda muttered, still not looking up. Ukai lifted the cigarette he was about to light to his mouth, but lowered it at the last moment. “They want Ai to come to dinner tomorrow. To meet her.” Takeda finally looked up at Ukai, his mouth a small open triangle. “I mean… I know this wasn’t part of the deal, but…”

“It’s fine. I’ll do it.” Takeda said, sounding determined rather than angry, which took Ukai by surprise.

“A-are you sure?” Ukai stuttered. “I’ve already made you do so much for me. Like that kiss…”

“Did it bother you, Ukai-kun? To kiss me?”

Takeda was looking directly at Ukai. Takeda’s brown eyes were boring holes into Ukai’s face, making the younger man feel tense. Was Takeda looking for a specific answer? If Ukai said yes, would Takeda be creeped out? If he said no, would Takeda be offended? Was there even an acceptable answer? Ukai swallowed and looked down at the lighter in his hand. “It didn’t bother me if it didn’t bother you,” Ukai said, putting the unlit cigarette back inside the pack. “But if it made you uncomfortable, I promise it won’t happen next time.”

Takeda shook his head violently, his eyes and mouth pinched closed. “It’s not that. It’s just… It’s nothing. I told you, I’m dedicated. If you need me to kiss you, I’ll do it. As many times as you need me to. You haven’t let me down once since you joined the Karasuno team. I’m not going to let you down when you ask something of me.”

“Jesus Takeda,” Ukai said, rubbing his hand through the back of his hair. “Don’t let anyone take advantage of your dedication. Even me! If I ask you to do something you don’t like, you tell me!”

Takeda smiled wearily, “I know you wouldn’t take advantage of me, Ukai-kun. I trust you.”

The door of the bar opened and Takinoue and Shimada stepped out, looking around for Ukai and Takeda. Takinoue looked as though he had sobered up a bit, but he still shouted at the two, “Oi! You two! You’ve been out here forever! Everything ok? We’re worried about you! We must seem like real shitty friends, huh Ai-chan?”

Takeda smiled and blushed. “It’s alright,” he responded in his feminine voice. “We all make mistakes.”

Takinoue looked as though he was about to burst into tears. Shimada leaned in and whispered to Ukai, “She’s an angel. Keep her around as long as you can.”

Ukai smiled slightly, watching Takinoue lead Takeda back into the bar. “Yeah,” he said wistfully. “I’ll try.”


	5. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest with you guys, I've been working on this chapter since I published chapter 1. It's been a hard write, especially since we know next to nothing about Ukai's parents. But now that I've finished this, the rest should be smooth sailing.
> 
> The rating may bump up in the next couple chapters. Let me know what you guys think of potentially raising the rating to M.

Two days. For two days in a row, Ukai had to wear a stupid nice shirt. He hoped Takeda wouldn’t notice that he wore the same navy shirt with a layer of Febreze to mask the bar smell from yesterday. Ukai considered wearing his hair without his headbands for once, but shook his head at the thought. “It’s just my family and Takeda…” he thought, fixing his hair into its usual style. He decided to forgo his earrings though. His mom had never liked them, and it was probably best to be on her good side today.

Ukai planned to meet Takeda at the school since Sakanoshita Store, and therefore, his parents’ home, wasn’t far from there. He grabbed his keys and a jacket and slipped into his shoes at the front door. It had started to rain when Ukai left, and he sighed, rushing to his car. It was cold, miserable rain, and Ukai could tell that a thunderstorm was in store. He hoped Takeda didn’t have to walk in it.

When he got to the school, he found Takeda standing under an awning. Takeda wore the same black wig as yesterday, but as he drove closer, he noticed Takeda was wearing his glasses. He wasn’t dressed the same as yesterday, instead opting for a green cardigan with flowers stitched into collar, a white dress with a high lace neck, and brown tights. Ukai felt embarrassed that he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday while Takeda put effort into finding something different to wear. Where was he getting these clothes anyway? Takeda mentioned getting a wig from the drama department, so he wondered if the clothes came from there as well. But they seemed to fit Takeda so perfectly. Takeda didn’t have natural feminine curves, but the dress he wore seemed to cling to his waist, and it spread out from there hiding the fact that Takeda didn’t have defined hips. Ukai wasn’t too sure about the nuances of Takeda’s body. He rarely ever saw the young teacher when he wasn’t wearing a suit: business or track. His mind started to wander to what Takeda’s body looked like.

“Shit!” Ukai cursed under his breath, hitting the breaks of his car a little too quickly. What was wrong with him! Ukai bit his lip and parked his car close to where Takeda was waiting. The problem wasn’t really that Takeda was a man, though it did make the whole situation that much weirder. It was that it was Takeda. The whole situation made Ukai’s head spin. There was just something about Takeda that made his face prickle. Ukai pushed the thought to the back of his mind and grabbed an old issue of a sports magazine from the back seat of his car. He should have brought an umbrella with him when he left. Where was his mind lately? It didn’t seem to be anywhere relevant to Ukai lately.

He jogged over to where Takeda was waiting. The older teacher looked somewhat shocked. “Ukai-kun… I have an umbrella. You didn’t have to get out of your car.”

“Oh, yeah… well…” Ukai stuttered. “What kinda boyfriend would I be if I didn’t walk my lovely girlfriend to my car on a rainy day?”

Ukai cursed under his breath at the corniness of that statement, but Takeda just laughed. “You’re catching on to the whole romance thing, Keishin,” he said in his pitched-up voice. 

Takeda hoisted his umbrella up over Ukai’s head, and the two hurried back to Ukai’s car. Ukai took the umbrella from Takeda’s hands as he climbed into the passenger seat, lifting it up so Takeda didn’t get wet. He circled to his side and turned on the ignition. The radio was playing a pop song from the 90s that Ukai only vaguely remembered his parents listening to when he was a child. Takeda hummed along to the song, and Ukai awkwardly asked, “Do you like this song?”

“I remember hearing it as a kid,” Takeda remarked, looking out the window at the rain.

“You can turn it up if you want,” Ukai said, putting the car into drive and turning out of the parking lot.

“This is fine,” Takeda said, curtly. He seemed distant, almost as though he was lost in his own mind. Ukai sighed, slouching back in his seat as he drove slowly down the hill towards Sakanoshita Store. Ukai had felt lost in thought since this whole situation started. Seeing Takeda dressed like this, holding Takeda’s hand, kissing Takeda – it just all accumulated into one big headache.

The song wound to a close as Ukai reached his family’s home. It had only lasted a few minutes, but the drive almost felt like it lasted an hour. Ukai put his car in park near the back of the shop, then rubbed his temple in a frustrated gesture. He didn’t particularly want to get out of the car and face the rain and, worse, his family. Especially not now that he felt like his head was pounding furiously. “Ukai-kun…” Takeda said, softly, rousing the coach from his thoughts. “You look stressed. Don’t worry. I’ve met with several students’ families in the past, so I know how to deal with them. I won’t let you down.”

“That’s not it,” Ukai snapped, then recoiled slightly at his aggression. “Sorry… It’s not you I’m worried about. You’re so weirdly good at this. It’s me. I don’t really feel comfortable lying to my parents.”

“Then… would it be better to tell them the truth? About me and about the situation?” Takeda was looking up at Ukai nervously.

Ukai looked at Takeda and turned a bit pink at Takeda’s nervous response. “God no. That would be even worse. I don’t want to make the old man’s condition worse. Fake dating, you dressed like that, us kissing even though we’re both men… I think my whole family would die of shock.”

“Is your family ho-homophobic?” Takeda stuttered. Ukai’s eyes widened and he leaned back at the question. In response, Takeda waved his hands in front of him, blushing furiously. “I’m so sorry, Ukai-kun! I didn't mean to ask such a weird and personal question!”

Ukai slouched forward, resting his chin on the steering wheel. He watched the rain fall, plinking against his windshield violently. He had turned off the wipers when they parked, so only a shadow of the store in front of them was visible. He wasn’t sure what his parents would think if he had a male partner. He hadn’t really considered it because he wasn’t interested in men. Most men anyway, the back of his mind nagged. There were always exceptions, and he was starting to wonder if Takeda was one of those exceptions. He dismissed the thought as quickly as it came, refusing to believe that he had actually become interested in another man who was real and accessible and Takeda. “I dunno,” he finally said wearily as his mind continued to swim in thoughts. “I haven’t thought about it. Never had a reason to.”

“Oh,” Takeda responded in nearly a whisper. He almost seemed upset as though the response wasn’t what he was looking for.

They sat in silence for a moment before Ukai turned off his ignition and put the keys in his pocket. He grabbed Takeda’s umbrella and opened his door. The rain was still pouring, and Ukai was already wet by the time he unfurled the umbrella. He rushed to Takeda’s side and held the umbrella up as Takeda climbed out. Takeda leaned in close, pressing against Ukai’s shoulder as they walked towards the back entrance to Sakanoshita Store. Ukai tensed slightly at the touch and walked in long strides towards the store to get out of the rain as quickly as possible. Takeda sprinted to keep up. Ukai opened the door to his family’s home and stepped inside, shaking out the umbrella and slipping out of his shoes. He rapped his knuckles against the wall, calling out, “Mom? Dad? We’re here!”

There was a shuffling noise from a nearby room, and Ukai’s mother appeared quickly from around the corner. She was a stern woman with dark hair, and she wore a traditional kimono. “Honestly, Keishin. You don’t have to shout. We closed the store just for this occasion.” She turned to look at Takeda. “You must be Ai-chan. Aren’t you lovely? I hope Keishin has been good to you. We’re glad you could make it on such short notice.”

Takeda looked rigid, but he smiled and bowed. “It’s nice to meet you, Ukai-san. Your son has been quite wonderful to me. I’m not sure where I’d be without him sometimes.” He pulled a small bag of tea out of his pocket and handed it to Ukai’s mother. “It’s not much, but please accept this as thanks for inviting me to visit your home.”

Ukai’s mother smiled and took the bag, “You didn’t have to do that, dear. Please, come in! Make yourselves comfortable. Keishin, your father and grandfather are waiting in the kitchen.”

Ukai and Takeda followed Ukai’s mother into the kitchen. Ukai’s father and grandfather sat at a table near the kitchen counter. Takeda tensed, looking at the oldest Ukai with wide eyes. Ukai couldn’t remember he had met his grandfather, though based on his expression, it wasn’t likely. The advisor was meeting the great coach of Karasuno for the first time. He honestly hoped Takeda wouldn’t slip into his normal grateful self and get on all fours to thank him for helping Karasuno in the past or something.

Ukai’s father smiled slightly. He was a tall man with short hair peppered with grey. His age was starting to show, but he looked exactly like the bridge between the three Ukai generations. “Ah, welcome Ai-chan. It’s nice to meet you. Please, sit down. Is there anything we can get for you? Water? Coffee? Tea?”

“T-tea sounds nice. Thank you,” Takeda stuttered, still looking at Ikkei. He moved mechanically towards an open spot and sat, trying, and failing, to look anywhere but at the older Ukai. At least now Ukai wasn’t the most awkward one in the room this time. 

Takeda looked at Ukai as if to say “Please help me.” He looked as though he were about to snap into some explosion of gratefulness. Ukai sighed and smiled. “Gramps, this is Ai, my girlfriend. She’s excited to meet you.”

“It’s so nice to meet the legendary Coach Ukai!” Takeda stammered in his high-pitched voice.

“Legendary? You flatter me,” Ikkei said with a laugh. Takeda let out a sigh that Ikkei wasn’t creeped out by his exclamation. “Do you play volleyball?”

“N-no. I manage… um, managed, a team. In high school. Plus, my brother is always talking about how amazing Karasuno’s coaches are. Both you and your grandson have impacted their team so well…. At least, that’s what he tells me!” Takeda wrapped his arms around Ukai’s upper arm. “And if you’re anything like Keishin, I’m sure you were truly a fantastic coach.”

Ukai’s face was burning with the rush of blood to his cheeks. The praising, the touching… it was almost too much for Ukai’s heart to handle. It was pounding violently against his chest, making his ribs ache. Could ribs break from a pounding heart?

Ukai’s eyes flitted between his mother and grandfather who were both looking at him: his mother’s with curiosity and his grandfather’s with something akin to skepticism. He suddenly felt a rush of pressure from both. “So,” his father said, placing a teacup in front of Takeda and breaking the tension between them. “How did you two meet?”

Ukai let out a slow breath of gratefulness. He had rehearsed the answer to this question several times. “We met in Kurihara. Sensei and I were there to meet with one of the local schools, and since Ai is Sensei’s sister, she met up with us there.”

“I don’t remember you saying anything about a trip to Kurihara,” Ukai’s mother responded, raising an eyebrow. Ukai gulped nervously, “Well, it was just a quick trip. We were hardly there for very long. We went when we usually hold practice, but we had the day off for some of the boys to study for exams.”

Ukai’s mother stared at him for a few excruciating seconds. Ukai’s father laughed nervously before saying, “Your mother is just a little upset that you’ve left her out of the loop.”

“I’m sorry,” Ukai responded, fumbling with the ends of his shirt. “I just wanted to wait for the right time to mention it. I should have mentioned it to you before saying anything to Takinoue and the rest.”

“Sweetheart, you know you can tell us anything,” his mother cooed. “We just want you to be honest with us.”

There it was. The stake to the heart. Ukai’s mother only used sweetheart with him when she knew he was lying about something. His family was staring at him, and Takeda was confusedly looking from person to person. Ukai took a deep breath. He was about to say something when Takeda stammered, “I love your son. I’ve loved him since I met him. Maybe even before I met him. Sometimes, I feel like I ask so much of him… But every minute I spend with him, I realize how incredibly lucky I am to have Keishin on my side. I would do anything for him… No matter what.”

Ukai’s family was silent. The room was filled only with the soft sound of Takeda’s breathing, somewhat labored from his outburst. Takeda was embarrassed, and he looked down at his hands on his lap. The silence wasn’t broken until Ikkei shifted in his seat and placed his elbows on the table, a slight smirk pulling at his lips. “Well, you wanted honesty, and I think you won’t get any more honest than that.”


	6. Rain

Ukai and Takeda left after dinner ended. Ukai’s mother expressed she was sorry for putting them through such an interrogation. She simply wanted to make sure Ai was someone who was worthy of all the secrecy. Ukai suspected that she really wanted to make sure Ai wasn’t just some one-night stand. The dinner had been spent asking Takeda questions about Ai’s life and how she and Ukai met and fell in love. There was even some talk about volleyball, which Ukai appreciated since he felt that he could talk without screwing something up.

The rain was even heavier now than when they had arrived, and the sky was darker and grayer than it had been. Ukai started the ignition and set his windshield wipers to the highest speed. “Do you want me to drop you off at the school?” He asked, putting the car in reverse to back out.

“I took the bus there, so if you don’t mind dropping me off at the bus stop near the school, I would appreciate not having to walk in the rain.”

“Why don’t I just take you home then?” Ukai asked, turning to look at Takeda.

The older man looked away. “It’s a bit of a drive. I don't want you to have to drive too far.”

“It’s whatever,” Ukai said, tapping his fingers against the wheel. “I don’t mind at all.”

“Ok… I’m in the apartment buildings on the west side of the city. Over by the old bathhouse.

“Sure. I know where that is,” Ukai said. “Just give me directions when we get close.”

They drove slowly in the rain. The radio hummed classic tunes, but otherwise, the drive was quiet. Ukai looked over to see if Takeda had fallen asleep, but the man was still awake, staring out the window. When they neared the west side of town, Takeda pointed out the roads Ukai needed to take, eventually leading to a decent-looking apartment building. Takeda gripped his umbrella as Ukai found a place to stop, and didn’t move once the car was in park. “Ukai-kun…” Takeda mumbled, looking at the umbrella handle. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“Well, yeah. I should really be thanking you. You really saved my ass. My mom can see right through me sometimes. But you’re such a good actor. The way you talked about being in love with me seemed so real!”

Takeda’s grip tightened, and he whispered, “It was.”

Ukai blinked, nervously, looking at Takeda. He wasn’t sure if he heard Takeda correctly. “What?”

Takeda looked directly at Ukai, his brown eyes deep and full of honesty. “It was real. Everything I said was true. I’m in love with you. I have been since day one. And I would do anything for you, even if it is dressing up as a girl. Because you needed me, and I wanted you to need me. Because that’s what love does. It makes you do stupid things sometimes.” Takeda’s eyes started to shine with wet tears. “I’ve liked being Ai for you, because even if it’s just pretend, I get to be with you. It makes me wish I really was a girl so I could be with you and everything would be okay.” Takeda hiccupped nervously, wiping his eye with the sleeve of his cardigan. “I’m sorry… You must think I’m a freak. You’ve been saying all this time how weird the situation is for you. I’m so sorry.”

Before Ukai could even answer, Takeda rushed out of the car, opening his umbrella and hoisting it above his head. Ukai didn’t even fully register what was happening until Takeda had turned the corner and disappeared from sight. “Shit,” Ukai whispered, hitting his head against the steering wheel. Everything started to make so much sense to him. The little blushes, how Takeda was okay with everything, that kiss… Ukai let out a deep sighing breath through his nose. “Why am I so dense sometimes?” he asked himself aloud. Any latent feelings he had towards the teacher were rushing out of him, flooding his head with an overwhelming wave of emotion. He’d liked Takeda even before this whole Ai situation happened, but the events in the past two days manifested into something stronger.

Ukai turned off the ignition and ran from his car. The rain was pouring down, soaking him within seconds. He didn’t care. He raced around the corner to find a row of apartments. Surely Takeda lived in one of these. Ukai scrambled from door to door, checking the nameplates on each building. He sighed longingly at each door without a nameplate, wondering if Takeda was hiding behind an unknown door. He took the stairs two at a time, searching desperately for Takeda’s name. He wasn’t sure what was louder at this point: the rain or his heartbeat. He reached the last door on the stairs and slammed his palm against the wall. Surely, this nameplate would have a familiar name.

Ukai collapsed to his rain-soaked knees. The nameplate didn’t read Takeda. Ukai wanted to scream, wanted to call out Takeda’s name in hopes that maybe the younger man would appear from one of those nameless doors so Ukai could tell him how he truly felt. Instead, Ukai picked himself up and walked down the block of apartments, wondering if he should give up and go back to his car. He heard a door creak open behind him, and a soft, familiar voice whisper, “Ukai-kun?”

Ukai turned around, from the second to last door, beside the one he had just checked, he saw Takeda. He had taken off his wig and the girly clothes and was wearing an oversized set of sweats. His makeup was smudged and he held a washcloth stained with pink, black, and beige in his hands. “Ukai-kun, you’re soaked! I heard a loud noise and wondered what was going on What are you…?”

Ukai raced to the teacher. He didn’t care that he was soaked. He didn’t care that Takeda wasn’t dressed like a girl anymore. He didn’t care that they were outside where anyone could see. He reached out, grabbed Takeda by his cheeks, and kissed him squarely on his lips. Takeda’s eyes were wide open in shock for a moment, but closed slowly. The washcloth slipped from his hands onto the ground as he brought his arms up around Ukai’s neck. His fingers laced through the wet, dark strands of hair at the base of his neck. Their chests were flush together, and Ukai knew that Takeda’s sweatshirt would have a large, damp spot on the front. But neither of them cared.

When they broke apart, they were both breathing heavily. Ukai looked down at Takeda’s water-soaked sweatshirt and laughed sheepishly. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to get you soaked.”

“It’s fine,” Takeda responded. “You should come inside though. You’re totally soaked. I was just about to run a bath. Lemme get you a towel. I can put your clothes in the dryer for you. I don’t want you to catch a cold. I’ll just blame myself for that. I think I have a t-shirt and a pair of shorts that will fit you, though they might be a bit snug…”

“Sure, that’s fine with me. Thanks, sensei,” Ukai said, peeling out of his blue shirt. He was glad Takeda had disappeared into the other room so he didn’t see Ukai embarrassingly wriggling to get his arms free. He sighed when he realized that even his white t-shirt was soaked and see-through. Takeda returned, holding a towel and dry clothes. He nearly dropped the bundle when he noticed Ukai, standing in the hall with his broad chest and abdominals on display through the soaked white shirt. Ukai smiled, somewhat embarrassed, but also a bit brave as well. “Like what you see? You can join me in the bath if you want,” he teased. He grimaced slightly at the flirtatious remark, thinking to himself, “Fuck, wait. What if he says yes? Shit, am I ready for that? To see Takeda… like that?”

Takeda was red-faced when he picked up the bundle and pushed it sloppily into Ukai’s hands. “Y-yes, I like what I see, but I don’t think I’m quite ready for that… I mean, this isn’t exactly precidented…”

Ukai felt a wave of relief. “It’s okay. I was mostly just teasing. We don’t have to do anything until we’re ready.” Ukai shifted the bundle under his arm. “So, um, where's the bathroom?”

Takeda’s eyes bulged and he muttered, “Fuck!” under his breath. Ukai let out a snort. It was so rare for the teacher to swear. “I left the water running. It should be pretty full by now though. Follow me.”

Takeda lead Ukai into one of the nearby rooms. As Takeda said, the tub was mostly full. Steam rose from the tub, and Takeda turned off the water and covered the bath. “There’s shampoo and stuff next to the shower. Just put your clothes outside of the door. I’ll dry them while you’re in the bath. Let me know when you’re done, okay?”

“Sure. Thanks, sensei.”

Takeda fidgeted. “Y-you can call me Ittetsu if you want.”

Ukai blushed and scratched his cheek with his index finger. “Yeah. Keishin is fine with me.”

Takeda left the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Ukai peeled off the rest of his wet clothes and piled them outside the door. He was somewhat hesitant to leave his underwear as well, but he thought, “Relax. It’s not like he’s seeing you wearing them. He’s just going to toss them in the dryer along with everything else.” He tossed his soaked boxers onto the pile outside the door and returned to the shower. 

He set his headbands on the sink and washed his hair, enjoying the hot water. He hadn’t realized how cold he was until the water hit him, and he sighed pleasantly. He heard a shuffling near the door. “Probably Takeda picking up my clothes,” Ukai thought, returning to the shower. He scrubbed his body with a bar of soap and rinsed off before turning off the shower and lowering himself into the tub. The water rose up to his torso, and Ukai pushed his hair back, enjoying the warm water that enveloped his whole body. At first, he simply thought about the pleasure he got from the warm water, but his mind started to wander. What if Takeda had accepted his offer to take a bath with him? Ukai imagined Takeda on his lap, leaned back against his chest. Ukai suddenly felt even warmer. He looked down and noticed he was starting to get aroused. “Shit, shit, fuck!” he cursed under his breath. Even though he was open about his feelings towards Takeda now, he still wasn’t ready for these kinds of reactions.

Ukai leaned back in the tub, resting his head against the back wall. What would sex with Takeda be like? Could he even do it – have sex with a man? Had Takeda thought about it? Not that Ukai could ask; the teacher’s head would probably explode. Who would be on top? How did sex between two guys even work? Ukai understood the general idea, but it sounded so painful. For Takeda anyway. Ukai didn’t think he could be on the bottom, and the thought of Takeda being the dominant one in a relationship between the two of them sent a shiver up his spine.

He didn’t want the water to get cold for Takeda, so he climbed out and dried off with the towel. Ukai then pulled on the clothes that Takeda had given him. They were a bit snug compared to the baggy clothes Ukai usually preferred, but they fit him well enough to tolerate. He vigorously rubbed the towel through his hair, letting it fall in his face. He covered the tub and left the bathroom, looking for Takeda.

The young teacher was sitting in his kitchen, drinking from a mug. Takeda stood up when he saw Ukai, nearly tipping over his drink. Ukai laughed and smirked, and held up his towel. “The bath’s ready for ya. Where should I put this?”

“I’ll put it in the laundry basket,” Takeda said, holding out his hand. “I put your clothes in the dryer. They should be done in about 45 minutes. Do you need anything else? Coffee, tea? There’s some beer in the fridge too.”

“Beer sounds good,” Ukai said, sitting down at the table where Takeda had just been sitting. Takeda opened the fridge and retrieved a beer, placing the can in front of Ukai. “I’m gonna take a bath now. Sorry to just leave you alone.”

“It’s fine,” Ukai said, popping open the tab on the beer can. Takeda turned to leave when Ukai grabbed him by the sleeve of his sweatshirt, “H-hey, Ittetsu… Does this mean we’re, uh, going out?”

Takeda didn’t look at Ukai. Instead, he quietly responded, “Is that okay with you, Keishin?”

Ukai scratched the side of his nose sheepishly, “Yeah. I think I’d be okay with that.”

Takeda turned and leaned down to kiss Ukai softly and sweetly. When he pulled away, he was smiling, and he responded, “Then yes. We are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was as satisfying for all of you to read as it was for me to write!


	7. Shimada

They had been dating on the down-low for two weeks. Ukai knew he couldn’t keep his relationship with Takeda a secret forever. Eventually his parents and friends would find out. Every time his mother asked how Ai was, he always responded with “Fine,” to which his mother would furrow her brow with suspicion before turning back to her work. But things were more than fine: at least, with the Takeda he was dating. Ukai was starting to wonder what took him so long to realize his feelings for Takeda and Takeda’s reciprocal feelings.

It wasn’t like his fake relationship with Ai; they kissed often and increasingly more passionately as the days passed. Ukai would lick in the junction of Takeda’s neck and would rub his hands languidly up Takeda’s bare back as he kissed the base of his spine as they lay on his bed. And Takeda would reciprocate by sucking on Ukai’s Adam’s apple, trailing his tongue down to the coach’s navel. When Takeda felt really adventurous, he would pepper the inside of Ukai’s thighs with kisses, making the younger man squirm and moan. But no matter how passionate their kisses became, they still hadn’t had sex. They had an unspoken agreement that when the time was right, they’d know, but two weeks in, Ukai was starting to wonder if he’d ever be ready.

Ukai sighed, leaning back against the wall as he watched the Karasuno boys practice drills. Shimada stood next to him, his arms crossed. “So, how’ve you and Ai-chan been?”

“Fine,” Ukai said stone-faced. He didn’t want to elaborate because it would just get him further down the rabbit hole, but Shimada looked at him concerned. “Dude, fine in a relationship is not okay. What’s bugging you?”

“Well, first of all, I’m actually dating Takeda-sensei, who was actually Ai all along,” Ukai thought smugly. He didn’t say it aloud though. Shimada would probably cause a riot and he definitely didn’t want anyone on the team to know about his and Takeda’s relationship. But Shimada was also a good friend and could probably help him out. Ukai tilted his head up and said, “It’s just, we’ve been thinking about having sex, but it’s not like any other relationship I’ve had. I don’t wanna fuck up and cause any harm.”

“How so?” Shimada asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s not like you’re a virgin or anything. You’ve done all this before? Why so nervous now?”

Ukai turned red, and he rubbed his nose sheepishly. How did you explain to a friend that the situation was different since his partner was another guy? “It’s different. She’s different, I guess… she’s never slept with a guy before. And she’s worried it’ll hurt. What if she’ll feel different about me after it happens?”

“Kei… You’re a dumbass,” Shimada said, laughing. “She’s obviously into you, and I know you’re worried, but honestly, she’s not gonna regret sleeping with you. Unless you’re totally shit in the sack,” Shimada elbowed Ukai, grinning.

Ukai shrugged off Shimada’s nudges, but smiled back. “I think I’m pretty good in bed.”

Shimada shrugged. “Everyone thinks that. And yet, technically half of men are below average.” Ukai rolled his eyes, but Shimada continued, “Do you really think sex is going to change her opinion about you? If you’ve been thinking about it, you want it. And the fact that you’re afraid of fucking up means you really care about her. Do what makes you feel right, man.”

Shimada thumped the back of Ukai’s shoulder with the palm of his hand, smiling. Ukai smiled back nervously as a bead of sweat dripped from his temple. “Thanks, dude,” he said. The past two weeks proved that he really did like Takeda. It wasn’t just a fluke of Ukai falling in love with Ai and associating her with Takeda. The teacher was smart and caring and surprisingly good with his tongue. He looked up to where Takeda was standing on the other side of the gym talking to Shimizu. Takeda looked up and smiled at Ukai who smiled back. He was lost in the little smile: the way that Takeda’s lips would curl up so sweetly. It made Ukai feel like no one else was around to see that smile except for him. He could only faintly hear the sounds of the team practicing around him: the squeak of shoes against the floor, the thud of the ball hitting hands, Nishinoya’s shouts of, “Oh, fuck! Coach! Look out!”

And then reality hit him: hard and square in the face. Less reality and more a stray volleyball served by Asahi. The tall third year was panicking, and the team was crowding around him. Everything seemed so fuzzy to Ukai, even the voices. “Oh my god, Asahi-senpai!” Hinata was shouting, “You hit him right in the eye!”

“Coach! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you! Oh my god…”

“Dude, you’re totally gonna have a black eye from that!” Tanaka laughed, only to get a scolding from Daichi about tact.

A familiar pair of hands wrapped around Ukai and lifted him up. “Shimada-san! I’m going to take Ukai-kun to the infirmary. Do you mind watching over the remainder of practice for us?” Takeda asked, hoisting Ukai’s arm over his shoulders.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Can Kei even walk?” Shimada asked.

“Ukai-kun? Can you walk?” Takeda asked in a whisper, his voice laced with concern. Ukai nodded hazily.

“Can you take him?” Shimada asked. “He’s not too heavy for you?”

“Don’t worry,” Takeda responded. “I’m stronger than I look. I can handle him.”

Takeda lead Ukai out of the gym and towards the infirmary. The nurse wasn’t there at this hour, but Ukai just needed ice and a place to lie down. Takeda entered the office and helped Ukai stretch out on one of the beds. “Let me get you some ice, Keishin,” Takeda said, looking through the nurse’s office for a cold pack. “That looks like it’s going to be a nasty bruise. I’m surprised you didn’t see the ball coming!”

“It was your fault. I got all caught up in your smile,” Ukai laughed. He hissed as the cold pack touched his face. “Jesus, Ittetsu, you couldn’t have warned me?”

“I’m sorry…” Takeda mumbled, not moving his hand. “For both that and for distracting you.”

Ukai grimaced, pushing his head back into the pillows. “It was worth it.”

Takeda sat on the edge of the bed next to Ukai and kissed his cheek right below the cold pack. Ukai found Takeda’s hand and rubbed Takeda’s fingers. Takeda lifted Ukai’s hand and kissed the palm. “Does it hurt?” Takeda asked in a quiet voice, his thumb tracing the edge of the cold pack.

“Yeah,” Ukai responded in his own husky voice. His breath hitched when Takeda thumbed over a particularly tender spot. The teacher’s hand jerked back, but Ukai laughed and guided the hand back to his face. “It’s okay. You’re distracting me from the pain a bit.”

Takeda leaned in close to Ukai and whispered in a low, erotic voice, “I can distract you more if you want.”

Takeda climbed over Ukai’s body and sat on the younger man’s knees. He leaned forward and kissed Ukai’s lips and trailed down his jaw to his neck. Ukai’s head tipped backwards, and he had to grab the cold pack to make sure it didn’t slip off of his eye. “Ittetsu,” he groaned as the teacher started running his palms up the coach’s stomach. “What if someone comes in?”

“The nurse has already left for the day,” Takeda said between kisses and nips. “I doubt anyone is going to come in here.”

“I didn’t realize you were so kinky,” Ukai laughed, jutting his chin forward as Takeda started lifting his shirt up. Takeda was kissing his abdomen, bobbing with every deep, heavy breath Ukai took. “But I like it. Makes me forget about my eye.”

Takeda smiled and dove forward to peck Ukai’s lips. He hooked his index fingers in the waistband of Ukai’s sweatpants and paused. “Keishin… can I?”

“Fuck, yes,” Ukai cut off Takeda before he even finished. He could feel his pants tightening. Perhaps it was the fuzziness of his brain or his talk with Shimada or a combination of the two that made him so compliant, but he needed Takeda. The older man languidly pulled down the front of Ukai’s sweatpants. Takeda’s fingers were tracing the opening of Ukai’s boxer shorts when he looked up and whispered, “We haven’t done anything like this. Are you totally sure?”

Ukai pushed himself up with one elbow, looking down at Takeda with a serious expression He had never felt so sure in his life that this is what he wanted – no, needed – right now. Nothing else mattered to Ukai at the moment. For once, his mind wasn’t racing with “what-ifs” or reasons why they shouldn’t or why Ukai wasn’t ready. “How many times do I have to say yes before you believe me?” Ukai asked, staring down at Takeda.

The dark-haired teacher smiled and reached through the opening with his fingers, freeing Ukai. He was licking and sucking in ways that made Ukai’s head spin wildly. The cold pack slipped from Ukai’s face as he let go to grip the sheets of the infirmary bed. Takeda was so good at pleasuring Ukai with just his mouth. Ukai’s mouth felt dry as he moaned Takeda’s name. The teacher bobbed along Ukai’s length, not even stopping to breathe. Takeda looked up at Ukai with his big brown eyes as if asking for confirmation that he was pleasuring the younger man. Ukai moaned and whispered, “Fuck, yeah Ittetsu. That feels so damn good. God, I could kiss you right now if your mouth wasn’t on my dick.”

Takeda started moving faster, trailing his tongue around the edge of Ukai’s flushed head. The action was met with grunts of pleasure and the creak of the infirmary bed as Ukai shifted, bucking up ever-so-slightly. Ukai’s mind was hazier than his vision now as he rode in pleasure. Ukai had forgotten where he even was or why he was even here. All that mattered was Takeda’s mouth. If Ukai had known how much pleasure he could get from just this, he wouldn’t have waited two weeks. And this was just a blowjob. He couldn’t fathom the pleasure that sex would grant him. But for now, he wanted to live in this moment.

There was a knock on the door to the infirmary, and before either Ukai or Takeda could react, Shimada swung open the door. “I sent the team home early, but I thought I’d stop by make sure you were all…”

Shimada didn’t finish his sentence. He stared, wide-eyed at Ukai and Takeda. Both Ukai and Takeda were burning red, and there was honestly no way they could talk their way out of their position. Ukai’s head was buzzing loudly, and the right side of his head was throbbing. All three were frozen in place, no one knowing what to do in this situation. Ukai’s mouth was bone dry, and his voice rasped as he let out a solitary word of response, “Fuck…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am probably pushing the boundaries of the rating with this chapter. I edited and re-edited so many times to make the blowjob scene more tasteful. I want to keep this story M-rated to focus on the plot rather than the _plot_. Technically, I could have just skirted the issue by having them get caught in the act kissing, but where would be the fun in that?


	8. Talk

“So…”

Ukai, Takeda, and Shimada sat awkwardly around the infirmary bed: Ukai and Takeda on the edge of the bed and Shimada in a black rolling chair. Ukai’s head was pounding more than before. Shimada’s attempt to spark conversation was the first word spoken between the three for five whole minutes. What sort of thing did you say in this situation anyway? Even if just for a split second, Shimada saw Takeda’s mouth on Ukai’s dick; no amount of smooth talking could convince even the densest person that what they witnessed was completely platonic. Takeda had been hanging his head and staring at his hands, too embarrassed to even look at Ukai or Shimada. Ukai rubbed the back of his head nervously, “So…” he responded in like with a long drawn-out breath.

Shimada crossed his arms and looked between the two. “So you’re cheating on your girlfriend with her brother because she doesn’t put out? That’s fucking low.”

Ukai’s head sprung up and he waved his hands wildly, “No! That’s not it at all!”

“Then what? Is it some weird kinky incest thing?” Shimada asked, his brows furrowing slightly.

“God, no! That’s even worse!” Ukai shouted. He shifted slightly, totally unprepared for this conversation. “Ai… never existed. It was Sensei the whole time. He dressed up as a girl to fool everyone into thinking I had a girlfriend.”

Shimada looked at Takeda. The teacher’s face grew redder than it already was, if that was even possible. Shimada spat out a laugh, “I find that harder to believe than the kinky incest stuff. Why? And how?”

“Well, everyone has been bugging me about me being single… my mom, my dad, the guys from the neighbors’ association… I was on the phone with one of the guys and I lied and said I was dating someone to get them off my back. And Takeda agreed to be my fake girlfriend so everyone wouldn’t think I was lying. I thought it would be a one and done sorta thing, but my family found out. And then Takeda and I actually started dating.”

Shimada hung his head, slumping over in his chair. “This doesn’t make any goddamn sense…” he muttered. “I mean, not just the whole fake dating thing, but also the real dating thing! I didn’t think you were even into dudes, Kei.”

Ukai scratched his neck. “I’m not really into dudes. But I’m into Takeda.” He looked at Takeda, who was still staring intently at his lap. “I’ll admit, it was weird for me at first to date a guy, but the right person is the right person. And I’m man enough to admit that Ittetsu is right for me.”

“I never took you for the romantic type,” Shimada grinned. “It’s kinda funny. Mori said that Takeda had the hots for you when we all went out for drinks together for the first time. He’s gonna be a smug bastard when he finds out.”

“You better not go telling anyone about this!” Ukai shouted, nearly jumping up from the bed. His sudden movements made his head pound. He grunted and put his hand over his eye. Takeda’s head shot up and he worriedly looked at Ukai. “Keishin… don’t exert yourself,” he stammered. “You should lie down.”

Shimada glanced away as if he were interrupting a moment by looking at them. “I’ll try to keep it a secret, but this is pretty big news. You should tell everyone before they find out like I did. Especially your family. The sooner the better.”

“Shit…” Ukai grumbled, shifting himself into a comfortable position on the infirmary bed. “My parents are going to flip shit when they find out I lied to them…”

“Then just tell them!” Shimada interjected. “Your parents really care about you, Kei. I mean, yeah, your mom is that stereotypical ‘When are you going to give me grandkids!’ type, but I’m sure she and your dad want you to be happy more than they want grandkids. And yeah, Coach is rough around the edges, but he loves you too. But you can’t just let them find out. You gotta say something or they’ll just feel hurt.” Shimada pushed himself up off the chair. “I think you two have a lot to talk about. I’m gonna head out so you guys can discuss this. Don’t just go back to what you were doing before I got here, okay? Or do… I don’t care what you guys do with your free time. See ya!”

Shimada gave the two a little wave before exiting the infirmary. Ukai stared at the door, unfocused, for a minute after Shimada left before sighing and making himself comfortable again. His head was throbbing painfully, both from the injury and Shimada’s words. Shimada was right, his family did care about him. But he wasn’t so sure they’d take the news as easily as Shimada had said. His family was traditional and set in their ways. He was starting to wonder what was worse: the lying or the gay relationship with a coworker. Would his parents see the relationship as just another act of rebellion? His mind was racing, playing out every possible reaction his parents might have to him telling them the truth. Some good, but most heartbreakingly bad. He felt lost, and his mind swam with concern. “Keishin?” Takeda whispered, putting a warm hand on Ukai’s cheek, “Is everything okay? Talk to me. We’re in this together. You’re not alone.”

“I’m just worried how my parents will react to this whole mess…” Ukai responded, closing his eyes and leaning into Takeda’s palm.

Takeda pulled his hand away slowly and stared intently at Ukai, “Do you think us dating is a mess, Keishin?”

Ukai froze with his mouth hanging open. “God, no. That’s not what I meant!”

“Sorry,” Takeda apologized, “I guess I’m a little paranoid that you don’t actually like me sometimes…”

Ukai’s eyes widened in shock. “What? What would possibly make you think that!”

“Well, you’re not actually into guys, and I’m not self-confident enough to understand why you would make an exception for me. And I keep thinking back to when you said us holding hands was weird during that first date where I met your friends as Ai… And you haven’t wanted to… have sex with me, which makes me worried that you’re not interested in my body… and…”

Ukai leaned forward and cut off Takeda’s words with a kiss. Their lips crashed together so forcefully that Takeda let out a “Hmph!” in response. Takeda’s tense shoulders sagged, and Ukai reached up to put his hands at the base of Takeda’s skull, his fingers tugging on fistfuls of Takeda’s hair. It was sloppy but passionate, and when they finally broke apart, they were breathing so heavily that Ukai was worried he was stealing air from Takeda. Ukai’s hands were still gripped in Takeda’s hair, and he pressed their foreheads together. “You are worth everything, Ittetsu. You’re insanely smart, and you’re kind to everyone. You make so many sacrifices, but do everything with the most perfect, warm smile. You’re damn cute, all the time. Every smile of yours is like a glimmer of the sun. I get this lurch in my stomach when I see your body that I don’t feel around other guys because you’re so damn sexy. I want every inch of your body, every corner of your mind, and every minute of your time to be selfishly mine because I am truly, madly in love with you, Takeda Ittetsu.”

Ukai had started to choke up. He was crying. His feelings were overwhelming him. His lungs were crying for air and his mouth was painfully dry. He looked up at Takeda, who was unashamedly crying. Takeda reached out and clung to Ukai’s shirt, leaning forward to sob into his chest. “Keishin,” he hiccupped, his voice muffled by the fabric of Ukai’s shirt against his face. “Do you really think that about me?”

“I’m not poetic like you are. I ain’t that good with words,” Ukai said, cracking a lopsided smile. “I say what I think. And when it comes to you, my thoughts are just my feelings put into words.”

Takeda sat up, wiping his eyes and nose with the back of his hand. He looked at Ukai with red, swollen eyes and whispered, “Keishin, tonight, will you…”

“Yes,” Ukai interjected, looking at Takeda intently.

“I didn’t even say what I wanted…” Takeda said, blushing.

“Ittetsu, you could ask me to jump off a cliff with you and I’m so caught up in emotion that I’d still say yes,” Ukai said, smiling sheepishly.

Takeda laughed. “I’m not gonna ask you to jump off a cliff. I want you to make love to me.”

The younger coach scooted forward, cupping Takeda’s cheeks and tracing the teacher’s ears with the pads of his index fingers. “God, for some reason, you saying it like that makes it sound so much sexier.”

“Is that still a yes?” Takeda asked in a low purring voice.

“That’s practically a ‘if we don’t leave right now, I’ll probably take you right here on this bed.’ And after the Shimada disaster, I’m not exactly keen on the possibility of getting caught.”

Takeda smirked, drawing a teasing circle on Ukai’s chest with his index finger. “Oh? That's not a kink of yours?”

“It’s fucking going to be if you don’t help me up right now.”

Takeda laughed jovially as he bounced off the bed to help Ukai get up without feeling dizzy. His head felt significantly clearer than before, but he knew the area around his eye would be twinging with pain for a little while. But tonight, his eye didn’t matter. All that mattered was Takeda, and how good Takeda made him feel, and how good he would make Takeda feel in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm considering writing an omake detailing the events that took place after this chapter (rated E for Extra Sexy, huehuehue). If you're interested, let me know in the comments!


	9. Explanation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't read it and are interested in the NSFW bonus chapter that happens between chapter 8 and chapter 9, you can read it here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/7846900
> 
> But, if you're not big into sex scenes, ~~you're a liar~~ don't worry. The bonus chapter just adds a little spice, but not story, so you're not missing out on anything ~~except the juicy man-lovin'~~.

The air outside Sakanoshita was cold and dry, and the trees were barren and black against the steely gray sky. The whole situation felt ominous, and Ukai shivered, staring at the door to his parents’ house. Takeda wormed his hand into Ukai’s, squeezing his boyfriend’s fingers gently. “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “I’m here.”

“Yeah,” Ukai responded, his mouth as dry as the air. “But I gotta say, I’m pretty rightfully nervous here…”

“You are,” Takeda said, tracing his thumb over Ukai’s knuckles.

Ukai sucked in a deep breath and knocked on the door, opening it. “Mom? Dad? Old man?” he called out, slipping out of his shoes.

He heard a scuffling noise coming from the hall, and Ukai’s mother appeared, smiling eagerly. Ukai assumed it was because she was looking forward to seeing Ai again, but her face grew puzzled as she looked at Ukai. “Keishin?” She addressed, her voice tilted with confusion. “What happened to your eye?”

“Volleyball accident. That’s not important though... Don’t touch it!” He yelped, swatting her hand away as she tried to touch the purple-tinted bruise under his eye. He gestured to Takeda, who was anchored against the wall, removing his shoes, “You remember Takeda-sensei, right? I think you met a while ago after one of our matches.”

She looked at Takeda, contemplating his appearance. Then, she turned to Ukai and smirked. “You said you were coming over with Ai. You said you had big news you wanted to tell us. For a second, I thought I might be wrong and you two were getting married.” She turned her eyes to Takeda, looking him up and down. “Though I guess I was right all along.”

Ukai’s face crumpled with utter confusion. “What…” He finally managed to say after several moments of puzzled silence.

Ukai’s mother laughed. “Come sit down. We’ve been wanting to hear what you wanted to tell us.”

Ukai looked over at Takeda, who looked equally as confused as he felt. They followed Ukai’s mother into the kitchen, where his father and grandfather lounged under a kotatsu. “It sure has been getting cold lately. Please, make yourselves comfortable. I’ll get you some tea.”

The two men sat beside each other on one side of the kotatsu. Ukai’s mother brought cups of tea to them on a tray along with rice balls. “So,” she asked, sitting down across from the pair. “What did you want to tell us?”

Her smile was almost too unnerving. Ukai glanced around at his family. His father looked sheepish and but smiled at him when he caught Ukai’s gaze. His grandfather looked pensive as ever and didn’t look up at either of them. Ukai took in a deep breath, and stammered, “I… um…” He glanced over at Takeda. The older man smiled at him, and put his hand on Ukai’s knee under the blanketed edge of the kotatsu. “I’m sorry… I lied to you about Ai. She doesn’t exist.”

“But we met her,” his father said, earning an unusual jab from his wife. “Oh, right.”

Ukai looked absolutely confounded. The jab, the smiles: he felt utterly lost regarding his parents’ actions. “What’s going on?” he asked, frowning and glancing between the two of them.

The room was quiet for a moment, then Ukai’s mother coughed nervously. “Well, dear, I guess… We kind of knew that already.”

Confusion led to complete bewilderment. Both Takeda and Ukai looked at each other, not understanding the situation. “What… what do you mean?”

His mother sighed with a small smile. “Call it mothers’ intuition? I always can tell when you’re lying about something. And I’ll admit, Takeda-sensei, your disguise was very impressive, and I almost thought you actually were a young woman. But I’ve seen you come into the store before and a few times, and the way you look at Keishin is exactly the same as Ai. And right now, you’re even wearing the same glasses as Ai-chan was!”

Takeda pushed at his glasses sheepishly. Ukai’s mouth hung open. “So you knew? The whole time?” Ukai stammered, dumbfounded.

“Well, I had my suspicions at first, but after seeing Takeda-sensei in the store after meeting Ai, I knew for sure what was going on,” Ukai’s mother said with a smile. “Really though, your disguise was impressive. It’s no wonder you fooled so many people. How did you manage it?”

Takeda fumbled with his shirt. “Well, I, uh…” he looked at Ukai nervously. “Internet mostly. I found a wig in the drama department at the school. But, um, most of the clothes and makeup were borrowed from the female managers.” Ukai looked even more shocked than before, causing Takeda to wave his hands frantically in front of his face. “But I didn’t tell them who it was for! I didn’t want to embarrass you! All the embarrassment was reserved for me!”

Ukai sighed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. “This is such an information dump on me… I thought I would be the one to be overloading you guys. I’m guessing you’ve already figured out that Ittetsu and I are dating.”

Ukai’s mother and father looked at each other. Their smiles had dropped from their faces, making the hairs on Ukai’s neck raise with fear. Now he knew which piece of news they weren’t going to take lightly. Takeda watched him and pressed his palm against Ukai’s thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze to reassure him that everything would be alright. “Keishin,” his mother said softly, breaking the tense silence between them, “I thought you weren’t… romantically interested in men. I mean, we assumed Takeda-sensei might be fond of you, but I didn’t really expect the feelings to be mutual. I admit, the thought crossed my mind, but I guess you never want to think your son is… that way. I just assumed the fake dating was some type of agreement you both came to.”

Ukai pressed his fingertips to his forehead and sighed, “You’re right. It was just an agreement between us, at first anyway. It started out just being a favor so that the guys on the Neighbors Association team would give it a rest about trying to set me up with people. Takeda owed me a few favors, so I asked him to pretend to be my girlfriend. I really didn’t think I would ever date a man either. But I guess I’m more okay with it than I originally thought. I’d never wanted to date a guy in the past, and in the worst case scenario, if something happened between me and Ittetsu, I’m not sure I would want to date any other guy.” He looked at Takeda’s wide brown eyes that stared back at him. “But… as long as it’s Ittetsu, I’m okay with it. It’s sappy, yeah, but love’s kinda sappy like that anyway.”

Again, there was silence around the table. Takeda was flushed pink over Ukai’s words. Ukai’s mother and father were stunned, unsure of what to say. The oldest Ukai snorted, and the entire table looked at him. “You talk the same way your father talked about your mother. I may not get the whole dating a man thing, but I get the love thing. You’re my grandson. No matter how lazy or crass you are, we’ve loved you. And you dating a man ain’t gonna change that.”

“Of course!” Ukai’s mother chimed in. “We will always love you, dear. It’ll just take some time to adjust and mourn the loss of all our future grandchildren.”

“That wasn’t even on the table to begin with!” Ukai stammered. Takeda laughed brightly and wiped his eyes with his thumb. 

Ukai’s mother looked at Takeda and crossed her arms in front of her face. “Takeda-sensei, I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did your family take the news of your, erm, interest in men?”

Takeda stopped laughing and looked down into his cup of tea. “I haven’t spoken to my parents in years,” he said, quietly. “My father left when I was young, and my mother didn’t agree with my lifestyle. She said it was my dad’s fault for leaving me without a father-figure.” The entire table was watching him intently. Ukai felt embarrassed. He constantly talked about his problems, and yet, Takeda had so many secrets that he didn’t even know. He wanted to know them all, let himself be Takeda’s confidant. Takeda must have sensed his tension, because he looked at Ukai and immediately stammered, “But my grandparents were quite accepting, and we still occasionally talk! And several close friends who have treated me with nothing but kindness. And of course, I have Keishin now. And that’s all that matters to me.”

“I’m so sorry, Takeda-sensei… I didn’t mean to ask such a personal question…” Ukai’s mother said softly. “But I’m happy to hear that my burden of a son makes you happy. And we’re here for you too. We may have wanted Keishin to have a wife and children, but if you make him happy, then we’ll be happy too.”

“Thank you,” Takeda whispered, smiling shakily as though he were holding back tears. “I’m glad to hear that you’re willing to accept your son’s decisions.”

Ukai Sr. crossed his arms and looked away from the family, his mouth drawn into a fine line, “Now, on to more serious business. How’s the team?”

“Dad,” Ukai’s father groaned. “Honestly, all you ever want to talk about is volleyball.”

“Well it’s not like you’re offering any riveting conversation on the topic!” Ikkei growled, glaring at his son across the table. “Honestly, the volleyball gene must skip a generation. I get bored outa my mind talking to you about plants!”

“I run a farm, dad. I’m telling you about my job!”

“And now Keishin’s going to tell us about his!”

Both Ukai and Takeda laughed at the continuous banter between the two older men. Ukai glanced at Takeda who was grinning from ear to ear. “I’m glad that went well,” Takeda whispered, rubbing circles onto Ukai’s leg under the blanket of the kotatsu.

Ukai grinned in response, “I should have known they’d be like this. I shouldn’t have worried so much.” His grin fell as he thought about what Takeda had said about not talking to his parents. That must be a burden on him, even if he played it off as though it was nothing. “Hey, Ittetsu, will you come with me?” he asked, standing up from the kotatsu. “I want to ask you about something.”

Takeda’s brows raised, but he stood up, “Sure…” he mumbled. He looked over at Ukai’s family and offered a small bow. “Please, excuse us for a moment. We will be right back.”

“Where are you running off to?” Ukai’s mother asked, looking at the two suspiciously.

“Not where you’re thinking, ma. I just want to ask Takeda a question, privately,” he said, emphasizing the last word. “We’ll be back in a jiff.”

They walked out of the kitchen and into the hall leading back to the back door where they had entered. Ukai reached out and grabbed Takeda’s hand, gently pulling him towards an empty hall. “I wanted to ask you about your parents,” Ukai said quietly when they were out of earshot from the rest of his family. “Are you okay? That must have been really hard to talk about.”

Takeda nodded, still gripping onto Ukai’s hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it before,” he whispered, looking down at the hand clasped in his own. “I don’t really like to think about it, much less talk about it. But I thought it might explain why it’s so wonderful that your parents are accepting of you.”

Ukai pulled Takeda into a tight embrace, resting his chin on the top of the smaller man’s head so he was nestled in Takeda’s curly black hair. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, rubbing his hands along Takeda’s shoulder blades. “I just want to know everything about you. All your secrets, all the things that make you unhappy so I can try to make them better. I’m here for you. Please let me listen.”

Takeda’s body shook as he pressed against Ukai. His breaths were ragged, and even though his face was pressed against Ukai’s neck, he could tell Takeda was crying. “I cry too much,” he mumbled, gripping the back of Ukai’s shirt.

“No, you cry just enough,” Ukai said. “When you need to let it out, it just happens.”

“Your family loves you, Keishin,” Takeda said quietly, his voice hitching on what sounded like a lump in his throat. “Don’t take that for granted, okay?”

“Never,” Ukai whispered back. “At least, not anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every chapter with Ukai's family takes forever to write and edit, but I finally got this one. It was quite a challenge for me to imagine what it must be like to admit you're dating someone of the same gender to your family, and I never want to undermine these important scenes. So I wrote and re-wrote and re-re-wrote until I was happy with the result.
> 
> The next chapter will likely be the last, with possibly a short epilogue chapter afterwards. I'm bittersweet that this series is coming to a close as this is the first fic I decided to publish after a long hiatus from fanfiction writing. But don't worry! I have already started work on my next chapter fic, which includes more adult themes than this one.


	10. Match Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my lord, it's been far too long! Sorry to all my dear readers who have been waiting for this final chapter. Thank you so much for reading and waiting patiently!

Ukai stretched, bracing his palms against his knee pads. It had been so long since he had played a match against a neighborhood team, not practicing with Karasuno. With the boost in volleyball’s popularity from Karasuno, the community rec center decided to host a charity game between local teams. They were playing against another Miyagi neighborhood association. The community center was buzzing with noise, stands were filled with parents, friends, wives, and children all rooting on their loved ones. Ukai glanced over, instantly spotting a familiar mop of black curls and an excessively cheerful grinning face. Takeda was wrapped in Ukai’s jacket, holding a sign that said “Torono Fight!!!” in blocky katakana. Takeda noticed Ukai’s glance and smiled more broadly, offering a little wave. Ukai winked in response before flushing at the embarrassing gesture.

“Nervous?” Mori asked, striding up to Ukai with an outstretched water bottle. Ukai laughed awkwardly, taking the bottle from Mori. “Not really one for getting nervous. Why d’ya ask?”

“No reason,” Mori said calmly, taking a drink from his own bottle. “So, where’s Ai-chan? Is she coming?”

“We’ll see,” Ukai said, trying his damnest not to look at Takeda.

“I ran into Takeda-sensei earlier,” Mori said, his eyes rolled upward as though deep in thought. “He seemed pretty happy to be here. I woulda thought you dating his sister would be kinda weird for him, but honestly, it seems like you guys have gotten closer since you and Ai started dating.”

Ukai choked on the water he was drinking, spluttering droplets on his chin and down the front of his shirt. Mori quirked an eyebrow, but Ukai pounded his chest with a sheepish smile. “Sorry. Went down the wrong pipe,” he croaked out, running his forearm across his chin. “I guess you could say Takeda and I have gotten closer thanks to Ai,” he muttered.

“That’s cool,” Mori smiled. “Not gonna lie, I was almost positive that Takeda-sensei was into you. He just kinda has that look about him when you’re around. I mean, he’s nice to everyone, but he’s kinda sweet on you.”

“Sweet on?” Ukai asked, quirking an eyebrow. “What are you? My old man? Who even talks like that anymore?”

“Shaddup,” Mori scoffed, smiling, albeit with a tinge of pink dusted on his cheeks.

“What are you two talking about over there?” a loud voice called over. Takinoue approached the two men, closely followed by Shimada and Uchizawa. Ukai rolled his eyes as they approached, taking another drink of water. Takinoue smirked, “Been a while since the dream team has played together like this. This’ll be a cake walk after dealing with your crazy-good team, Kei.”

“Hah, yeah,” Ukai laughed. “Hopefully you can keep up with me since I’ve been getting way more practice than you.”

“I think you’re putting way too much stock in Takinoue,” Uchizawa smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“That was uncalled for!” Takinoue shouted, pivoting towards Uchizawa defensively. He turned back, scanning over the crowd looking for a familiar face. “So,” he said coyly, smiling and leaning towards Ukai, towering over him on the tips of his toes, “Where’s Ai-chan? Is she here yet? Coming to cheer you on like a doting girlfriend?”

Ukai shrugged off Takinoue with an eye-roll. “She’ll be here. Relax. I’m not gonna get all embarrassed like some school kid with a crush.”

For a split second, Shimada caught Ukai’s eyes, knowing and serious. Ukai did flush a bit, remembering the last time they had talked about Ai. Shimada was still the only one of his friends who knew the truth about his relationship. Ukai had told Shimada that he’d tell the rest of the guys the truth after the game. He didn’t want anything to do with his fake (or real) relationship affecting the team morale. Shimada didn’t say anything to Ukai though, instead stretching his shoulders. “We about ready to start this thing?” Shimada asked, addressing the whole group.

“Yeah,” Ukai remarked, setting down the water bottle on the bench and cracking his knuckles. “It’s time.”

* * *

They were sitting at match point in the second set, poised to win the match with just one good play. Shimada had already been swapped out, and Mori was serving. It wasn’t an ideal setup for their match point, but Ukai wasn’t giving up on the serve. He nodded to Mori, who nodded back, and served, hitting the ball with a harsh “thwack!” as it sailed over the net. “Sorry! It’s short!” he called as the opposing team moved to receive.

“Don’t mind!” Uchizawa called out, watching carefully as the ball was passed to the opposing team’s setter. 

“Left! Left!” Takinoue called out, moving to block the attack. His timing was a bit off as he jumped, but the ball slowed slightly as it hit his fingertips. “One touch!” he called out, glancing behind him. Fujikawa, one of their more defensive players, dipped to receive the ball, sending it towards Ukai.

To Ukai, nothing shared the level of exhilaration as the touch of a volleyball hitting the palms of his hands for a good set-up. The feeling was fleeting with the rush of adrenaline that coursed through his fingertips, and time always seemed to move a bit slower up until right before the spike slammed against the court. He glanced at his team and saw the opening, Uchizawa’s power would make a good back attack and the other team seemed to be marking Hide, the wing spiker right beside him. “Uchizawa!” he shouted, deafeningly loud as he set the ball towards Uchizawa for a spike. Ukai watched the ball fly from his hands, hit against Uchizawa’s palm, and strike loudly against the floor just out of reach for the other team’s libero.

A loud whistle signaled the end of the game, and Ukai and his team ran together, crushing against each other in a mess of arms of an attempted hug. The cheers from the crowd were deafening. “I expected nothing less from Karasuno’s coach!” Hide shouted, clapping Ukai against the back.

Ukai smiled as thanks and looked over at the crowd. Takeda was standing, violently flailing his sign and shouting loudly, blending in with the crowd. For a fleeting moment, Ukai could hear his name among the cheers of the rest of the crowd, and he smiled broadly knowing exactly who was saying it.

The post-game formalities went by in a blur as they shook hands with the other team and bowed to their opponent’s audience. They returned to the bench, Takinoue’s arm around Ukai’s shoulders, shaking him with pride. “You’ve improved, benchwarmer!” Takinoue shouted over the clatter of people getting out of their seats and moving to leave the rec center.

“Way to ruin a good moment, dick,” Ukai snorted. “Maybe you should take some pointers from my team! What was that flubbed block in the middle of the set? I thought you were gonna fall on your ass!”

Takinoue tightened his grip. “Happens when you start getting old, man. Just ask Uchizawa.”

“Dude, I’m only two years older than you,” Uchizawa groaned, trying to sound annoyed despite his stifled laugh.

“Keishin!”

The sound of Ukai’s name made him look up. Takeda was sprinting towards him, the sign flapping under his arm as he ran. He dropped the sign onto the bench as he approached, and in one fluid movement, he grabbed Ukai by the front of his sweat-soaked t-shirt and planted a kiss on his lips. “Congratulations, Keishin,” he said softly in a familiar, high-pitched voice before turning to wink at Ukai’s friends.

Other than Shimada, the entire group was stunned. Uchizawa’s looked utterly confused, Mori’s face was half between a gasp and a smile, and Takinoue’s jaw was practically frozen in place, wide open with utter shock. “I knew it! I knew he was into you!” Mori shouted, grabbing Uchizawa by the sleeve and shaking him. “You owe me 500 yen!”

“You had a bet on this?” Ukai asked, turning back to glare at Mori. Uchizawa shrugged in response, shaking Mori off his shoulder. “I thought it would be easy money.”

“Hold up! Hold up!” Takinoue shouted, shaking his hands violently in front of him. “I’m so confused. What the hell is going on?”

“It’s a long story,” Ukai said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Basically, I asked Takeda to pretend to be my girlfriend to get those assholes always bugging me about being single off my back. One thing led to another and we ended up actually dating.”

“Didn’t think you’d let everyone know so openly,” Shimada quirked an eyebrow. “Then again… considering how I found out.”

“Wait, you knew!” Takinoue shouted at Shimada, whipping around to look at him. “And you didn’t even tell me! I thought we were best buds! How did you find out about all this!”

“I’d rather not talk about the details,” Shimada raised a hand, looking away. Takeda turned simultaneously pale and bright red at the memory.

“Look man,” Takinoue turned to Ukai, sternly. “I don’t get it. I don’t get how you managed to trick all of us so damn well, but you’re gonna explain it to us over a drink to apologize for lyin to us, and another drink for an amazing game, and once we get all the details ironed out, then we can support the shit outa you two.”

“We cool then?” Ukai asked, glancing around the group.

“Yeah,” Takinoue responded, followed by a chorus of affirmations. “Didn’t take you for the type to be into dudes, but…” he glanced over at Takeda, “Yeah, I can see it.”

“Whatever,” Ukai smiled, rolling his eyes, “I’m gonna drop off my gear at home. Meet you guys at the usual place. I’ll explain everything there.”

“Don’t forget, first round is on you!” Takinoue called out, waving goodbye as Ukai and Takeda moved away from the group.

“Do I look Iike I’m made of money?” Ukai yelled back. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, hiding a small smile that crept onto his face. Takeda bumped into his shoulder, smiling up at the sweaty man, “Good job out there,” Takeda whispered, “The game and talking to the guys. I’m glad it went well.”

“Yeah,” Ukai whispered back, clutching his bag. “I’m glad it went well too. That was easier than I thought it would be.”

“Maybe because I was there to help. I did all the really embarrassing stuff after all,” Takeda laughed nervously, turning a bit pink.

“Thanks,” Ukai muttered back, “I’m glad I asked you to be my girlfriend.”

Takeda brushed his hand against Ukai’s as they left the rec center. He was still blushing, not looking at Ukai, with a large smile curling on his lips, “I’m glad you let me be your boyfriend too.”


End file.
